Shura’s debut album, ‘Nothing’s Real’ can be easily described as an alternative pop piece but there’s surely more to be said here. There’s undoubtedly a strong 80’s vibe spilling all over from beginning to end. From the powerful, bold beats to the mesmerizing, vintage synths. The opening banger ‘Nothing’s real’ is a representative paradigm.
This aesthetics is successfully fulfilled through her whole visual package (photography, music videos) that comes with this era of hers. This album somehow manages to offer pure romanticism in a way that makes you dance instead of feeling sad for the long gone, innocent youth. On the contrary, Aleksandra seems to celebrate young love and coming off age by dressing it all in a rhythm that makes it hard to resist moving your body or tapping your foot on the floor to the beat. Songs like ‘Indesicion’ and ‘Tongue Tied’ describe this dancing nostalgia the best way.
As the music progresses in the manner described above, we reach the sensational -almost erotic- 'Touch' that is followed by 'Kidz N Stuff', an emotional ballad where the tones go down for a while. But only to come back harder with 'Indesicion', the kick of which is just made to make you dance. I felt there was a climax in ‘Make It Up’ where the percussion and performance sound so sure and mature with Aleksandra repeating ‘Do you ever make it up? Do you wake up in the night and change your mind? Do you ever make it up?
What also needs to be mentioned is how Shura is loyal to her gay orientation throughout her ‘Nothing’s Real’ era, both lyrically and visually. The videos that come with the music are mainly portraying young love through the hearts of same-sex couples. And even though her theme is very specific, the music seems to appeal to people of all musical backgrounds. It’s hard to not enjoy Shura's warm vocals and cheerful mood.
I won’t hide that, when I first listened to this album, I strongly got a La Roux vibe that actually disappeared as I started getting the actual meaning of it. La Roux was never THAT romantic after all.
A ‘must listen’ for fans of both pop and indie, 'Nothing’s Real' is still an easy listen even 5 years after its release.
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