FELILI

Music is directly related to state of mind. Winter angst is just as inevitable as the need for summer jams. Since it is not quite summer, transitional music is necessary for the awakening mood of springtime. A multi-facetted, growing beat is the perfect soundtrack for spring cleaning of any sorts. Not only does Felili portray the positive, active mood of Bed-Stuy, her new video, “No Way To Know”, released in early April, is filmed right on the busiest street in this neighborhood.

Her intimate lyrics are accompanied by comforting guitar lines. Brooklyn includes such a variety of sights and sounds it is no wonder that Felili’s music is quite eclectic. Felili can be described as creative indie soul. She is playing at Matchless, in the City on June 4th. - Examiner

It's been a while since we saw any bands passing through Elbo Room that piqued our interest, but tonight sees not one but two promising bands appearing on the club's basement stage.

Opening tonight's show is Texas to Brooklyn transplant Felili who is touring behind her debut, The Moon. The album is a melange of production styles creating aural pastiches around Felili's bright but slightly smokey vocals. Her bio compares her delivery to that of Karen O, and while Felili certainly doesn't share O's grasp of abandon and danger, they do both have powerful instruments at their disposal. The Moon is a promising debut but we admit we're curious to see if it's subtle touches and flourishes will carry over to a live setting. - chicagoist.com

Inspired by Mexican folk, old jazz singers, and modern pop music, Felili’s debut album, the Moon is a hodgepodge of influences but together into a cohesive package.
Felili’s voice is dynamic. Depending on the song’s mood, she alters her voice. The album’s lead single “Hotel” has a bit of a reggae influence. Felili uses a voice somewhere between Macy Gray and Nina Simone. “Paradise” has more of a 90s alternative rock song. The voice she uses on this song is more similar to Alanis Morissette mixed with Tara Slone’s work in Joydrop.
Felili is obviously a talented vocalist, but the song writing and production are the biggest question marks on the album. “Hotel” lyrically feels mismatched. The first verse seems to be about how Felili is doing what she wants musically and does not care about what the critics think, but then the chorus is about meeting at a hotel. It feels like she had a verse and had a chorus that had nothing to do with each other and threw them together.
On the production end, “Hotel” is finely produced but other tracks are more questionable. “No Way To Know” is needlessly noisy. The disjointed drums instead of adding anything to the song actually take away from Felili’s vocal performance. In the chorus, the music is simply too loud and actually drown out the vocals. That’s not even production fault, that’s a mixing issue.
Overall, Felili has talent. Her vocals are superb but execution is where the album falters. A good voice will get you a lot of places but if the song writing is not solid, the production is not top notch, and the mixing is off, there is only so far you can go. With that said, I would still be interested in hearing more from Felili. - Surviving the Golden Age

Dallas singer Felili operates in the left-field of female vocalists. With a voice straining to reach the higher notes her music needs an open ear and also a bit of patience to absorb the nuances supplied by her guitarist/keyboard player/programmer/producer Zach Landreneau.

Her debut album The Moon is a crossroads of indie musings and soul, with a tendency to bury the songs in superfluous sound effects (No Way To Know), but the adventurous rhythms come to the rescue most of the time. Think The Asteroids Galaxy Tour meet Bjork (sans the fairy tale imagery). - Here Comes the Flood

Currently on her The Moon Release tour, she and the band had the audience immersed in an eclectic sound of contemporary pop rock. With the aid of random video images on a screen, Felili's songs seemed to pop with more depth and meaning than they would without. This was something SouthSide enjoyed very much throughout the set. This reviewer did more than listen to the music while enjoying the pretty images. She found herself lost amongst the emotions behind the lyrics especially during the slow songs.

And this was what Felili hoped the audience would do while attending her performances. According to this singer/songwriter, most [people] don't take time out to appreciate the lyrics within a slow song. However with Felili's songs, SouthSide suggests you do. For example, take the title track off her CD - The Moon and while admiring the intense images of the moon, listen to the haunting slow tempo and the way this singer emotionally projects her vocals. And listening to this song live with the video images really puts it into a unique prospective that you might have never experienced before. This reviewer also recommends listening to Stay. Fans will enjoy the calming yet lively Brazilian rhythm that had her groovin' to the beat. However SouthSide did notice that the bass somewhat overpowered the song thus taking away a little the pleasantness of the music and vocals heard.
Though part of Felili's music is programmed (for background vocals and extra beats/rhythms), it's also the driving force behind this songwriter's eclectic uniqueness. Certain rhythms gave Felili's vocals a definite soulful feel whether she was performing on the guitar or not. You can say, blogspot readers, that she's simply a musician/artist expressing herself ...performing and connecting with fans on a level through her lyrics. Check out the lively upbeat tone of Hotel in which she soulfully rocked the stage ending on a high note. According to Felili, she hopes everyone in the audience left the show remembering a line or melody from her songs. She wanted them to have that feeling they saw someone giving them a genuine performance. And it was truly what SouthSide had felt after attending this show, blogspot readers.
- Southside on the Town

Felili was a nice discover on the broad indie underground often way too dark to discover brand new gems lost between (my)spaces and tiny productions. They still deserve a lot, and the chanteuse Felili was able to persuade me with her kweel musical taste (Amy Winehouse, Neneh Cherry, Charlotte Hatherley could easily find a suitable place in her songs) and an album clever enough to blend different sounds and genres without losing personality.

More at http://www.sleepwalkingmag.com/2010/02/09/felili/. - Sleep Walking Magazine