A cascade of arpeggios flows into a dreamy electronic shuffle to open Michael Beharie’s Voices EP with the track “Drugs Store”. Digital and analog flourishes abound as the hip and sexy tune winds on, Beharie’s filtered vocals floating just above the surface of the mix. “Queen Lear” follows suit to some degree in terms of instrumentation and musical vibe, but Quincy Vidal’s Le’Asha Julius brings an entirely new energy to the proceedings. With her hip hop edge and the tune’s club beat, “Queen Lear” displays the broad range of Voices by thrillingly demonstrating the power one voice can bring to a musical composition.
Other voices featured on the record are the Nigerian artist SARO and Marisa. SARO comes into play on the lush trop-pop of “Reasons” and gives the track a mellow, midnight vibe. SARO’s vocal melody rides along the tune’s striding digital bassline as flashes of guitars and synths appear in the darkness. “Just Another Animal” closes the album with a poignant duet between Beharie and Marisa. As on the EP’s opener, Beharie moves from intimate acoustic moments to a pulsing electronic rhythm and beat the propels the track along while the slightly digitized voices of Beharie and Marisa flutter between the human and the robotic to opine on love.
Voices is out now on Astro Nautico. You can follow Michael Beharie on Twitter, Instagram, and SoundCloud.
