Pop singer/songwriter Taali released her newest EP Were Most Of Your Stars Out? on November 8th. The EP as a whole does a stellar job at blending different elements of contemporary pop, soul, and storytelling to tell her unique story.
Taali is also known for weaving the Jewish culture into her music, which is immediately noticed with her first song “This Is What Love Is.” Instantly, you are swept into her world of stories with this sense of lightness and soul.
“Los Angeles” immediately precedes after with a seamless transition as the songs are both in the same key. There’s a sense of simplicity throughout the song due to not being overly produced which helps create the open-space atmosphere surrounding it. She keeps things interesting with changes in rhythmic patterns and placement of accents on certain words and phrases.
“Hear You Now” is also a great example of how she keeps her sound very simple, yet dynamic. With the exception of one song, the piano accompaniment is the most prominent and fundamental part of the instrumentation. “Wayward Star” is where we finally hear a change in the backing track with the use of electric sounds and synths.
That “Song About the Midway” is probably the most dynamic song of the EP. Her deliverance of emotion is spot on both vocally and in her storytelling. There are also strong influences of blues and soul, which also makes this song much more compelling than all the others.
The last song is a duet with her creative partner, R&B/Jazz singer, Jose James, and is titled “Snowfall on Orchard.” This song was a great choice to close out the EP because it encapsulates a lot of different elements that make up the other songs.
Were Most of Your Stars Out, as a whole, was very reflective of Taali as both a performer and a songwriter. There are great moments of intensity and raw emotion throughout the songs, but sometimes it was hard to differentiate between the songs because the instrumentation used was so similar between the tracks. The biggest change that happened was with the last song because the instrumentation finally changed. Taali has so much to share with the world through her storytelling and songwriting, and I was fortunate enough to feel like I was on this journey with her!
Please give a listen to the EP in its entirety via Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play, and YouTube.
