Hope Tala is an English musician who has been called the voice of Neo-Soul. Tala’s style falls into the category of Bossa Nova, as she can easily be compared to the stylings of Astrud Gilberto and Elis Regina. Tala uses this style on her new EP, Girl Eats Sun. This EP is encapsulated in her collaboration with rap superstar Aminé, “Cherries.”
Tala spins stories with her lyrics, like she’s twisting cherry stems into delicate knots. The beginning of the song is bright and light, like a sea breeze. The sound is similar to “Hello Hello Hello” by Remi Wolf. Tala’s voice is breathy and almost tired sounding, like she’d been settled in the sun and become tired. This works wonderfully as she sings, “The cherries in your mouth spill stars/Scarlet venom to keep in jam jar/ We all build worlds with joined up scars… ” Tala describes someone leaving a mark on her, “But your constellation has stained my guitar,” like cherry juice staining fingertips. The chorus slows down, with heavier trap beats and flute tunes, though her voice remains constant, “Don’t leave me here alone/Drink up the tears I cry…”
Aminé comes bursting in. His highly recognizable voice and flow is a little more harsh than the breathiness of Tala’s vocals, but his aggression blends well on the track. Aminé favors bright aesthetics and sounds in his projects, which allows for a high quality fusion of the two artists. He also has a slightly lazy sound to his verses, which adds to the relaxed feel of the song. The instrumentals stop and start for emphasis, which creates a playful sound. Aminé raps, “Now the chain stained with some cherry lip gloss…Road trips to Nice, but we ain’t goin up to Greece…A lot of text messages that I wanna delete…” Tala loops through her. Tala vocalizes before Aminé plays the song out, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (Ooh)…”
“I’ve always been inspired by the Garden of Eden and the story of Adam and Eve. I think of ‘Cherries’ as being a really corporeal song – there’s a lot of lyrical content about how the body portrays feeling and emotion, and when I was writing it I used the symbol of cherries as my focal point to help me understand where these two worlds – material and emotional – collide,” Tala explained to Line Of Best Fit. This religious imagery is present in the beautiful visualizer for the project, which features Tala looking like the subject of an oil painting. She is shown looking glossy and poised, appearing as though she is part of nobility.
The instrumentals, romanticism and general musical sunshine of the EP are all packed into this one track, like a drink concentrated with a great deal of cherry juice. Hope Tala’s Girl Eats Sun is a vibrant mural and “Cherries” featuring Amine captures all the complexities of the fruit’s flavors.
You can stream “Cherries” and Girl Eats Sun everywhere now!
