I first heard of Tei Shi back in 2017 when she was on a tour opening for MØ and I caught their performances at Metro. I was sent her debut LP, Crawl Space, ahead of time and was blown away by the vocals on “Justify.” Needless to say, the show was fantastic, and I ended up seeing her headline at a different venue a few months later.

In the years since, Tei Shi has consistently released great songs, including “When He’s Done,” which made my list of best songs of 2019. She also landed a song on the 2021 list with the acoustic version of “Basically.” She’s proven over and over that her talent as a songwriter/producer is only getting better with time.

She has a way of fusing R&B/funk/pop all together in a way that can make you dance and swoon, then break your heart just as easily. Since the beginning her songs have been glimpses of her life and her mind. The music is endlessly fascinating, but remains completely accessible for anyone to enjoy.

She ended 2022 with a couple great singles, “Bad Premonition” and “GRIP,” perhaps a sign of an album or EP coming sooner than later. In the meantime she’s hitting the road once again, this time opening some shows for Kimbra before playing some headlining gigs in April.

Dates with Kimbra start tomorrow and go through March 18th. You can find more info on those here. To catch Tei Shi headlining shows, check out her website for dates and ticket information. She also just released some new merch, and I dig the new logo. You can find shirts and stickers here.