Bobby McFerrin was certainly not the first artist to often rely just on his voice and body sounds, but he was certainly one of the most original ones in that respect, taking this not-so-usual approach even to top lists.
Still, not many artists since McFerrin either had the capabilities or courage to take that route. Until now that is. This time around Canadian musician Jordana Talsky decided to take that quite risky route on her EP Zahava.
Why risky? Because when you rely just on your voice and body to express as much emotion and nuances as possible, you not only have to have vocal capabilities to do so but also an abundance of imagination and arranging skill to make the music both engaging and listenable.
Luckily, Talsky has all those qualities to be able, both to be expressive and engaging and escape one of the most obvious traps of such projects, and that it becomes tedious for the listener.
Talsky has a great voice, but also songwriting and arranging capabilities to make her music both interesting and listenable, and her body sounds add the rhythmic patterns that give the music exactly that touch it needs.
As she explains, “in becoming a loop artist and learning to do a new thing with myself, I have come up against my insecurities and criticisms, and have found that in many ways, this creative journey has mirrored the challenge I experience to be at home with myself. I believe most of us have different parts to our identities that are in conflict, but which can be harmonized as we grow into ourselves. I am a person of several voices, and now a choir of one.”
This might sound like boasting, but Talsky actually delivers music on Zahava that fully backs it up.
