Listen: Tei Shi - "Bassically"

As with much of her earlier work “Bassically” puts her effortless, breathy vocal into action over a typically heavy bass line, lightened by ambient noises and crisp synth samples. Like so many of this year's greatest tracks “Bassically” is sexy to the point of indecency, with Shi lingering over every word, drawing out gasps and moans that trip over sickly sweet melodies before disappearing into a mass of unintelligible distortion, revelling in a tone that sits in the purposely confusing space between pleasure and pain.

Shi has, up till now, garnered far less hype in the blogosphere than one might expect for a songwriter trading so heavily in the kind of music that forges a connection between the stripped back electro of fellow New Yorker Solange whilst attempting to dredge emotional depths seemingly only reachable by the likes of Lykke Li or Sharon Van Etten.

Thankfully for us “Bassically” seems to suggest the embers of a newfound energy, alongside a fresh appreciation of her talents, leaving the listener with a striking sense of potential fulfilled. She may be lying under the radar, but she won’t remain there for long.