The story goes like this: London girl meets American girl. They become more and more intimate thanks to the wonders of modern technology. London girl moves to New York to be with American girl and then – thankfully for all of us – writes an album about it. If Shura’s debut record (2016’s Nothing’s Real) was a young girl lost on the battlefields of love, then forevher is her hopelessly wide-eyed older sister insisting there’s no need to ask questions like “what happened to us?”.
The ridiculously strange-but-awesome phenomenon of ‘80s influences in modern pop music continues to suit Shura nicely. Sure, at times the music comes across as uber cheesy, in a Dirty Dancing kind of way. Even the lyrics play into that here and there: take “Summer in love / I think you’re awesome” from ‘BKLYNLDN’ for example. But hey, falling in love will do that to a person. In that respect, moments like these may be the most genuine of all. And genuineness is the quality that brought us into Shura’s orbit three years ago. So even though forevher may not necessarily have a standout track as infectious as ‘What’s It Gonna Be?’, it’s still undeniably human and therefore just as relatable.
It’s refreshing as hell, especially in this sociological landscape, to hear such an unabashed celebration of queer love. It’s equally as refreshing to just hear an artist so damn giddy about her personal life. As listeners, we tend to gravitate towards the misery more than the glory. We want justification for the self-loathing and comfort for the heartbreak. Well, Shura wants us to know that someone’s here for those of us on the upside of love too. She’s still wearing her heart on her sleeve, but this time, it’s sewn back together and beating properly. And thank goodness for that, because happiness looks quite good on her.
Haiku Review
In case you wondered,
Shura is madly in love,
This is forevher,
Listen to SHURA on Spotify and Apple Music. You can find merch, gig tickets, and news from SHURA on her website .
