Shu Ra is the second full-length from
Sing Leaf, the project of musician David Como. While he established his home-recorded psych-folk and
Dylan-esque vocals on his 2013 debut as well as a handful of EPs,
Shu Ra had a couple of different inspirations. On a personal level, while his prior releases had collaborators, Como wrote and recorded this batch alone following a divorce (he has said that he didn't originally intend to ever share them). During that time, he was also sifting through a collection of hundreds of world music cassettes that came into his possession following a chance meeting with the widow of a musicologist. African rhythms and heartache may not define the album, but they do heavily impact it. At the same time,
Shu Ra shares the earthy warmth and off-kilter experimentalism of
Sing Leaf's prior records, which includes the spare use of electronics. He uses samples and whistling in addition to guitar and keyboards on "Won't Give Up," a brief entry with a single verse that's captured by the opening lines "Tell me, where did you go?/Nobody wanted you to leave." Elsewhere, "Distant Morning" is grounded in acoustic guitar and an all-natural palette of African percussion. The song's breezy pace, quietly humming keys, and backing vocals that consist of vowel sounds rather than words convey an open jeep ride in the savanna. Meanwhile, the brooding "Wasting My Time" offers relatively more conventional psych-pop, and "Black Water" has a trippy, South Asian flair. Despite the album's diverse instrumentation and occasionally epic textures, it feels intimate. It seems particularly well suited for lonely summer afternoons. ~ Marcy Donelson