Nardeydey: FreeFalling
“The London-based musical polymath Shirley Tetteh is a wearer of many hats: guitarist, composer, jazz collective founder. As her latest incarnation Nardeydey, she has released a punch bowl brew of a song: a little italo disco here, a little post-punk there” – Pitchfork
“Even among all the young talents on the rise from London’s incredible new jazz scene Shirley Tetteh stands out as true don. She is a guitarist of high renown and a key member of the spiritual-jazz big-band Maisha and the all-star, all-women’s ensemble Nérija. But under the name Nardeydey, Shirley reveals herself as a fabulous pop alternative singer-songwriter” – Afro Punk
“London’s Nardeydey has played guitar for Anderson .Paak and Little Simz. On her debut solo single, she melds dub with post-punk in an explosion of alt-pop sound of melody.” The FADER
“polyrhythmic percussion and bright melodies that conjure the glittering pop of Metronomy or Thundercat’s off-kilter compositions” The Guardian (One to Watch 2019)
When NardeydeyAKA Shirley Tetteh dropped her debut single “Speedial” in late 2018, she undoubtedly took some of her contemporaries on London’s blooming New Jazz scene off-guard.
Shirley is an important guitarist on London’s new jazz scene (having even won a Parliamentary Jazz Award in 2018 for best newcomer). With her work founding the fast rising collective Nérija, playing in the Alice Coltrane inspired jazz band Maisha(not to mention being booked by the Jazz Café to support ECM jazz guitar legend Bill Frisell ) you’d be forgiven for thinking she was “Guitar Susie” (as Anderson .Paak dubbed her when she played a one-off guest appearance in an all-star band Gilles Peterson assembled for his Worldwide Awards in 2017). But the delicious Bricolage pop of “Speedial” with it’s slinky guitar, honeyed gospel vocals and off-kilter beat blew that notion out of the water. More than just a guitar virtuoso, Shirley was a songwriter of some genius too.
“Freefalling” reinforces that notion, again weaving multiple feels and techniques into an unusually amazing whole. The song kicks off with a funky Joni Mitchell melodicism, replete with her glowing gospel harmony style. Then it drops into an electro-pop hybrid synth passage before turning on a dime into an extended RnB harmonic bridge complete with a surprise Prince solo (in miniature). It’s a thrilling 03:28 of unclassifiable pop music.
