At first glance, 21-year-old Tess Henley gives off a soft-spoken and shy persona, one that may even be classified as a naive innocence, however, the release of her debut album Easy To Love proves otherwise. Tess’ remarkable writing abilities and buttery vocals put this image to rest, as she reveals a compelling story about the trials and tribulations of love.
Remember when you first heard Mary J.’s “I’m Going Down,” or even Alicia Keys’ “Fallin,” and how taken back we all were by the purity and soulful core of their voice? That’s exactly how Easy To Love takes off, starting with the scarcely minute long “Intro to Pompi’s Song,” a track that later closes the album as “Pompi’s Song.” Without a doubt, the duo tracks are the most expressive as far as vocal range is concerned, but moreover, the most telling about grief and loss. Learning and understanding the joy, complications and pain that love generates is a theme actively linked throughout the album, easily seen as Tess jumps into “Complicated.” The silky-smooth jazz beat and the guitar riffs in the background is powerful, yet subtle enough to let Henley divulge herself lyrically into the ever problematic disposition of love, with power and grace. This power extends itself on “Disguise,” a song that not only sketches a lyrical blueprint for heartache and desperation, but is driven by a dramatically changed melody later laced with a heart-tugging piano solo, courtesy of the songstress herself.
In a similar fashion, Henley’s vocals soar on “Hitting Me Hard Now,” a track that painfully deals with finding an inner strength to continue when one’s hit rock bottom. Forgetful of the rough edges that encase ‘love,’ Tess softens her lyrical prowess with “Fool With You,” “Easy to Love,” and “Understand It’s You.” As the trumpets rocket across the track and the Spanish-guitar like tune kicks in, the jazzy upbeat “Easy To Love” operates as a platform to appreciate love in all its glory, whereas “Fool With You” garnishes a poppier sound and a lyrical content that indulges in the naivety of the things we do for love.
Easy To Love is such an emotionally driven album, solely based on the [dis]functionality of that little headache (or joy) called love. Nevertheless, Easy… is a defiantly soulful album that has surpassed the R&B cookie cutter mold. The overlay of jazz-infused instruments, including Henley’s own take on the 88-keys, offers the simplest form of production, but aids in peeling the album away to the core of its raw emotion. Henley’s vocal arrangements cradle the melodies put forward, and intensify the spirit on tracks like “Pompi’s Song,” and “Disguise,” but do fall short of making the same presence on songs like “Fool With You.” Despite such minimal hang-ups, Easy To Love is a soulfully expressive abstract answering what is love.
86/100
Disguise
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Easy To Love
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Fool With You
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Damn this get slept on horribly
Not only is this a great listen, an easy listen at that with all the ingredients of great music, but the review is well written and captures the essence of the project perfectly.
It’s a dope album