CRAWL SPACE DUE MARCH 31 VIA ARTS & CRAFTS
WATCH AND SHARE THE VIDEO FOR “KEEP RUNNING” HERE
"Unmistakable and appealing confidence." Pitchfork
"A beacon of melancholia's painful beauty. Inescapable." Stereogum
"Elegant, elegiac, and sensual." Noisey
"Soft-hued indie pop with dangerously sharp corners." FADER
PHOTO CREDIT : JJ Medina
From the moment she emerged, Tei Shi (aka Valerie Teicher) has established herself as the latest in a line of uncompromising female artists. Her hypnotic brand of deconstructed pop has enchanted fans worldwide, while her bold and innovative fashion sense has drawn plaudits from style publications and Instagram followers alike. After breaking onto the scene with 2013's Saudade EP, Tei Shi scored a bona fide hit a year later with "Bassically", which racked up over 12 million streams across streaming platforms and YouTube. Now she's preparing to release Crawl Space, her astounding and emotional debut album, due out March 31 via Arts & Crafts.
"Keep Running" is the first single from the album, and is out now. The sumptuous video, directed by Agostina Gálvez, which premiered today courtesy of Billboard, who called the video a “hypnotic visual expression”, shows off a sultrier side to Tei Shi unseen in her previous visuals.
WATCH AND SHARE THE VIDEO FOR “KEEP RUNNING” HERE
Director Agostina Gálvez noted, "Val (Tei Shi) and I connected creatively very fast and we were able to integrate our ideas in an interesting way. She wanted to do a karaoke scene and that was the starting point to develop the rest of the story in the video. What I like the most about it is how ordinary elements become strange, generating a special atmosphere throughout the song. Shooting her was great, her slow moves and graceful gestures made her whole performance hypnotic."
Teicher went on to say, "’Keep Running’ was the first new track I wrote shortly after releasing my last EP. It's a kind of call to arms to someone you love, to take on and confront all of life's obstacles together. To fight to stay together through thick and thin. A ride or die kind of love."
Born in Buenos Aires, Teicher spent her childhood in Argentina and Colombia before moving to Vancouver and Montreal, cultivating a strong artistic sensibility from a young age. During her studies at Massachusetts' Berklee College of Music she began to realize her full potential as a performer, and by the time she moved to New York City after graduation, the Tei Shi project was born.
Crawl Space documents Tei Shi's transformation from the cautious and curious new kid on the block to a confident, self-possessed and buzz worthy artist. Written and recorded over a year and a half, the album traces a much wider arc, from Tei Shi's earliest musical explorations to this, her first long player. Growth is never easy, though, and if the title makes the process sound difficult, even claustrophobic, that's because it was. In fact, there is a palpable physicality surrounding this record, and it reveals itself everywhere: from the album's song titles - “Keep Running”, “Lift Me” - to its rhythms, to its astonishing cover art. Constant motion is a fact of life. A real, physical crawlspace fits only one person and demands that person move forward, out and through it. Tei Shi's debut evokes that feeling and the experience of centering oneself, changing focus.
MORE PRAISE FOR TEI SHI
"Tei Shi, née Valerie Teicher, has a knack for creating hypnotic songs with the power to send involuntary shivers down your spine." NYLON
"Entirely on-trend, yet still enticing and distinguished." Interview Magazine
"There is something attractive about her ability to float effortlessly between refined and edgy, a skill that extends beyond her music." V Magazine