"Alina Baraz & Galimatias"
"Alina Baraz & Galimatias"
Cleveland based singer-songwriter Alina Baraz is the next leading star of the emerging class of leftwing pop singers, including Kelela, Banks, Jessie Ware, and Katy B to name a few. With only a handful of songs on Soundcloud, Alina has found her groove within the two most prolific genres of the year: R&B infused pop and sample-based electronic music. For over a decade, bass musicians like James Blake, Burial and Blawan have subtly showcased their passion for soul music by pitch shifting, stretching and chopping notable R&B vocal samples and recently artists like Alina Baraz have inverted the tradition.
Her most notable effort is two-track EP, Drift, a collaboration she released with Danish producer Galimatias. The Drift EP ironically doesn’t feature the album-title track, but it does include stunning songs, “Pretty Thoughts” and “Make You Feel,” which can be easily mistaken for an incredible future-bass edit of something from Lana Del Rey or Rainy Milo. So far the Drift EP is Baraz’s only official release, but her solo loose singles, reworks, and covers have also showcased her range as a songwriter and her musical influences.
On “Paradise,” Solection’s ESTA reworks Cashmere Cat’s “Paws,” and closes the tune with a stunning piano solo. While in “Art of Persuasion,” Alina’s sultry vocals glide over the synths and chopped vocal samples of XXYYXX’s “About You,” resulting in the sonic missing puzzle piece. Alina also has reinvigorated mash-ups with a rendition of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” that smoothly spreads breathy vocals over the breezy instrumental of French Montana and Curren$y’s “So High”.
As of now, there are no new rumors about Alina Baraz joining forces with other electronic producers who have a perchant for R&B music, so until then we’ll continue to hope that Alina and Galimiatias will link up again and create an all original collaborative EP like Jeremih and Shlohmo.
