I haven't done one of these in a while. It's not that I haven't wanted to review one the blog's Twitter followers, its just that very few of my followers have intrigued me enough to listen to their music. It's an emotional roller coaster to say the least.
I get all excited when I get a notification that I have a new follower, then I see who it is, and it's somewhat disappointing. Its like, did you even look at the background of the type of music that is showcased on the blog? No, MC Such-n-Such, I do not want to hear your latest album titled Bitchez, Weed, Money, & Gunz.
As for you DJ Stank-Booty, I will not download your latest mixtape She Twerks Hard for the Money Vol. 14 (you see what I did there, elementary word play with the title of a Donna Summer classic).
I guess I've been waiting for artists worthy of the attention of the blog's 15 readers (give or take 13). So I waited...and waited...and waited. I basically forgot I created this segment until I got a notification that Tess Henley was following me.
Honestly I had no clue who Tess Henley was, but I did notice her account was verified. Upon deeper investigation (I clicked on her profile), I discovered that Tess' fourth studio album had a recently been released on iTunes, High Heels & Sneakers. I pulled up iTunes, and there was this cute little curly haired white girl lacing up some sneakers.
I'm not going to lie to you, off of appearances alone, I was about to write her off. I wasn't even going to listen to the album. I figured it would be 12-14 songs of some regurgitated Selena Gomez/Demi Lovato uber poppy-ness. I talked myself into listening to the first track, and I immediately hated myself for stereotyping her music based on her looks.
This girl has soul! Not that Justin Bieber purchased street cred type of soul, but true to form, from the heart soul. Henley hails from the Seattle area, a region that doesn't boast the greatest R&B resume. She spent the early part of her career opening up for neo-soul legends Anthony Hamilton and Jill Scott, if that's not a seal of approval, I don't know how else to sell you on Tess. Oh wait, did I mention that a lot of her work is produced by Dice Raw of THE LEGENDARY ROOTS CREW? Sold? Not yet? Continue reading.
But wait...there's more! Her music is amazing! High Heels & Sneakers is a 13 song dissertation on Tess Henley's versatility. She experiments with jazz ensembles, funk, ballads, and classic Motown sounds. There is no style this woman won't try to impose her talent on.
Also, each song on High Heels & Sneakers seems to subtlety play homage to a different musical influence Henley has. You can her channeling Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, and Chaka Khan at different moments throughout the album. One of my favorite tracks, Who Are You, which happens to bat lead-off, Tess comes off like a low-key Alicia Keys.
Another favorite of mine from the album, Something To Say, Henley sounds like she could be the illegitimate love-child of D'Angelo and Erykah Badu.
On Vultures, another standout on the album, it sounds like the ghost of India.Irie injected herself into the body of Tess Henley to create this song. Did I mention India.Irie is not even dead? Amazing.
All I can do now is para-phrase the once great Arsenio Hall in Coming to America..."that girl good!" Definitely don't sleep on this girl. All she needs to do is link up with the right producers to solidify her style, and this girl will be a household name. I would love to hear the type of direction Mark Ronson or Salaam Remi could add to her style. Check out her website (www.tesshenley.com) and follow her on Twitter (@TessHenley). You're welcome.
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