Today, the pioneering and unapologetically honest singer-songwriter, producer, and DJ Tei Shi – real name Valerie Teicher Barbosa – announces her eponymous new solo album Valerie, is set for independent release on April 19th via The Orchard. Alongside the news, she shares her new single and video “Quédate Queriéndome” off the forthcoming LP.
“Quédate Queriéndome” is an enchanting listen that finds Tei Shi contemplating a relationship via a bilingual lens, as it depicts the classic tale of a dysfunctional romance. The new single is both confrontational and redemptive and is expressed via the track’s title which loosely translates to “stay wanting me” or “stay loving me”. The accompanying raw visual directed by frequent collaborator and friend Vogue Giambri, finds Tei Shi on a secluded beach yelling at the moon as the bachata-fueled production kicks in.
Tei Shi shares her thoughts on “Quedate Queriéndome” stating, “Although I wrote “QQ” not from a place of romantic hardship, I wanted to display what I felt through this universal story of the doomed love affair. With both the song and the video I sought to paint that portrait. I worked with Vogue Giambri on the video and choreography, which opens with a monologue Vogue wrote that I then translated into Spanish. What you hear in the intro is a mix of those versions, threading both languages similarly to how I do in my music. She adds, “I have always loved bachata and knew I wanted to create my spin on it at some point. The process of mixing those acoustic elements and rhythms and bringing them into my eclectic world was a pivotal part of the album-making process…I think it sets the scene well for what else is to come on Valerie.”
Valerie features masterly crafted production by Tei Shi alongside frequent collaborators Noah Breakfast, Mikey Freedom Hart, Nick Hakim, Rodrigo Amarante, Knox Fortune, Dave Sitek, Ash Workman, and Zooey Celeste. A vessel of continued growth, the new material picks up where last year’s BAD PREMONITION EP left off, expanding on Tei Shi’s shape-shifting sound while continuing to touch on her roots. Where BAD PREMONITION was a cathartic return to being a fully independent artist, Valerie extends the EP’s six tracks to twelve and marks that arduous path back to creative freedom more fully, delving into the most painful part of the process endured before.
Tei Shi muses, “’Valerie’ is almost the precursor to ‘BAD PREMONITION’, in that it’s a lot of the early songs I wrote during the first phases of the pandemic, through being duped by my label and management at the time, through surviving a life-threatening experience, losing touch with myself personally and creatively. These songs eventually yielded to more self-assured ones like “¿QUIÉN TE MANDA?” and “GRIP”, which came later but were released first. On ‘Valerie’, I’m peeling back the initial layer and exposing my most personal and intimate musings through one of the most confusing periods of my life.”
Coinciding with today’s news, Tei Shi has also announced that she will embark on a North American tour this Spring. The Valerie Tour kicks off in Boston on May 1st, it spans across nine cities including Toronto, New York, Vancouver, Chicago, Los Angeles, and will wrap in Seattle on May 12th (full dates below). Tickets will be available starting with local presales tomorrow Thursday, February 08 and general tickets will go on sale Friday, February 09 at 10 am local time at https://teishi.world/.
Last year kicked off Tei Shi’s new era as a fully independent artist and has seen her embark on an empowering musical journey while making her mark on the live scene. She toured across North America last Spring, supported Kimbra throughout the country, and performed intimate, sold-out shows in New York and Los Angeles. Additionally, Tei Shi collaborated with John Cale on his highly lauded album Mercy, where she was featured on the track “I Know You’re Happy“. She also made her runway debut at New York Fashion Week, walking for the Elena Velez show, and was a special guest at TOM FORD’s Milan Fashion Week show.
Akin to her music production and bilingual songwriting, Tei Shi is a culmination of her lived experiences, upbringing, and heritage – foregoing borders and genre. She continues to straddle the line between creativity, independence, artistry, genre, and worlds as she pushes forth her empowering message to a global audience of fearless fans. Listen/stream “Quédate Queriéndome” below and stay tuned for more news to follow.
WATCH/LISTEN “QUÉDATE QUERIÉNDOME”
https://teishi.ffm.to/listenqq
THE VALERIE TOUR DATES
5/1 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
5/2 – Toronto, ON @ TD Music Hall
5/4 – New York, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
5/5 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
5/6 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
5/8 – Vancouver, BC @ The Fox
5/9 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
5/11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
5/12 – Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
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