Ooooohhhh smooth! Taranaki’s Tali brings us her new single, from forthcoming album Empress Era, out on 13th March. This single though, I Feel Too Much, is out this Friday, 30th January. Where else but the amazing ‘Naki eh??? She resides in the City of Sails nowadays however you can take the girl out of the ‘Naki but…

Tali has enlisted the mighty Nathan Haines to accompany on brass, and his sax is woven deliciously through this number. I’ll not get ahead of myself though, so I’ll kick off with the vocal from Tali. A honeyed mezzo soprano that ranges up into full soprano as the song kicks into the middle section, just in time for that silky sax of Monsieur Haines to start weaving itself through the mix. Jazzy and chocolatey, it’s a lovely blend of brass, strings and a bassline that allows for a slightly surprisingly treble-led snare. I’ll quickly add that the surprise is a pleasant one, and it works really well to keep the balance sharp and not muddied.

Fair kudos there goes to the mixing engineer – let me stoop and pick up another name that I’m dropping into this review – Tiki Taane. Da man himself! The lyrics are written by Tali, and I’ll let her tell you about it. From the EPK:

“I am a very empathetic person, almost to my detriment, as I am often really affected by happenings in the world and directly around me, which at times has created anxiety and bouts of anger or deep sadness. It got me wondering about whether I had always been like this, and talking to my family we reflected on how I’d always been a kid who ‘felt too much’.”

This is a great, slick electronic piece. Someone who can call in the likes of Nathan Haines and Tiki Taane should be able to deliver at this level, and Tali has met expectations with room to spare. It’s got major undertones of modern jazz, courtesy of that ever present sax cutting in as the key turns to minor, yet remains an electronic music hit in the making. This bodes well for the album.

I didn’t get a vid to review as part of this, but you’re going to hear this around the traps on all the commercial and regional stations. If you like your electronica smooth, slick and with a hidden snap, check this out. Tali featuring Nathan Haines: I Feel Too Much.