Shanti Celeste - Tangerine

November 15, 2019 - Peach Disks

Chilean born Bristol raised Berlin based Shanti Celeste brings forth her debut album on her very own imprint. It is an important achievement in a fast growing career, and one that paints Shanti Celeste as a veteran of the field rather than a relative new comer. Tangerine is a seemingly effortless triumph that both allowed Celeste to break free of a self-imposed creative restriction and will continue to allow for a glimpse inside the mind of a gifted contributor gracefully pulling the strings of the past into a stronger future. 

The music is warm. Track titles play off of musical content. A journey is laid before us, a journey with varied levels of conscious commitment. Sit back and let the rails take you forward, or take hold of the controls and choose your own direction. The project is also ten pieces long which is a nearly perfect amount of pieces for a project to be. The vinyl track listing varies from the one used for streaming; I will speak with the streaming listing in mind.

‘Sun Notification’ stretches out in welcome. It is a slow and ambient stretch towards wakefulness full of playful and colorful audio spurts. It is the embodiment of the content-faced tangerine that occupies the album artwork. The track is here for you and you are here for it. ‘Infinitas’ begins the pace pick up. We are awake and ready for the day and an underlying layer of positivity will be here for us if we so need it. Driving percussion steeped in the warm glow of dance tradition gives way only to a forest of sharp synth plucks and layered ambiance. 

‘May the Day’ trades warmth for organic, guttural tones. A backbone of Shepard tones or Shepard-esque tones keep the track in a state of constant build; not even the booming kick halfway through breaks the tension. ‘Natura’ doesn’t release any of that tension but rather softly pushes it aside. Back in the forest, natural light dapples the ground as airy vocalizations float above. ‘Aqua Block’ picks up where ‘Infinitas’ left off. The energy is high and tempos are raised. Celeste shows her skill as a BPM weaver, giving the listener several stages of body rhythm to occupy. It’s nothing new in dance music but it is staggeringly refreshing here in this context and this mind space. 

‘Sesame’ immediately darkens the auditory space with a squished kick and chopped, breathy vocals. The energy presented is consistent throughout; it is clean energy, it is good energy, it is life energy. The track uses a typically abrasive set of parameters (tempo, percussion kit, plucky bass) in a very non-abrasive way. Its therapeutic sweaty hard dance music in the best of ways. ‘Slow Wave’ does just that, bringing the energy level down to a more manageable “lite flow.” Creamy pad plops envelop the ears soft but lushly. ‘Voz (Instrumental)’ plays off the darkened space, filling the room with hints of spiced aroma and hazy eye-watering pressure. 

‘Want’ eludes me. I’ll break character a bit and say that ‘Want’ is my favorite track on this project and honestly one of my favorite tracks of 2019. It's got that je ne sais quoi element throughout that makes me as a producer split down the middle of jealous admiration. Cheeky nostalgic drum breaks drive hard against playful natural and synthesized melodic riffs in the best way. The baseline is shared amongst multiple instruments and multiple octaves in a satisfying narrative of growth. There’s even a slow motion tempo shift in the middle. The track really has it all. ‘Moons’ works to bookend the project between ‘Sun Notification;’ two pillars of ambiance, one sunny, the other rainy. One sunlight the other moonlight. Both positive. Both progressive. Both introspective.

Shanti Celeste has been putting in incredible hours and Tangerine is a strong physical and spiritual representation of what can come out of submitting one’s self to passion, self-confidence, and perseverance. It’s a joy to listen to start to finish and put simply, it gives hope. I’d like to thank Shanti Celeste for sharing this with everyone. 🍍