It’s my senior year.
*Moment of silence*
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about summer. While I should have spent my time researching potential future jobs — or perhaps working an internship that could lead to a future job — instead I listened to lots and lots of music (not that I’m complaining).
So, as you guessed it, this brings us to another segment of Gr8 Unknowns *confetti falls from the sky.* This week’s subject of talk is someone who has a super interesting story behind her music: Tash Sultana.
While I was wasting time scrolling through Facebook videos, I stumbled across a video interview between her and Viceland. It’s a bit of a watch, but it tells her story better than I can, and it’s the reason I delved into her music:
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So, she’s a one-woman band who plays all of her own instruments for her songs using a looping system, who then stumbled into fame performing this live as well as gaining tons of hits on Youtube. And her goal to learn every instrument that she possibly can is an admirable feat. Can she seriously be any cooler?
After seeing this video, I immediately pulled up Spotify to look her up, and the first song I heard was “Notion.” The guitar intro almost seems to snap you right into this melancholy state. It is so smooth and the melody is so pretty — almost so pretty that it makes you kind of sad. Then, the deep guitar and percussion come in and drive that point home.
Sultana’s voice also takes many different forms within the song. She can sing high and soft, deep and gritty and anywhere in between (not to mention that growl at the end).
And can we talk about that guitar solo? I mean, holy hell. The whole song is pretty straightforward, and then she brings that wild card out and takes you by surprise.
Here is a live version of the song:
While she has a knack for hitting you right in the feels, she also has the ability to bring you up with some surfer/reggae vibes. On her most popular song “Jungle,” Sultana entrances with a bouncy guitar and percussion line. There’s even a little rap verse in there to keep us on our toes. It’s more fun to watch live:
In the end, this musician is what other musicians dream to be (at least I do, anyway). She’s got the whole package — a great voice, the ability to play many instruments, supreme knowledge of the looping system and just a chill, gritty persona.
Check out more of her songs below:
