TANSU is an indie neo-soul artist based in Harlem. Her new single, "Easy Love," is an enthralling musical goodbye that appears on her upcoming EP, which will be released by Little Planet Music. The artist has found her style at the intersection of pop, soul, R&B and electronic music.
Throughout her life, TANSU has called many places home, including London, Connecticut, her birthplace of New Jersey and her current residence, Harlem. Her expansive life experiences, as well as her Turkish-Irish descent, have connected her to soulful music since childhood. She grew up idolizing Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and the Spice Girls.
These artists combined vocal prowess, electrifying charisma, and fierce commitment to their art and inspired TANSU's involvement in performance arts during high school. She trained in classical and Broadway music, but it wasn't quite the glamorous, progressive pop style she longed for.
Eventually, TANSU enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston and honed the techniques that would someday allow her to use her natural musical ear to enhance her artistry.
After college, the artist moved to New York and began working in the fashion industry, which she called "another performing art." While TANSU loves fashion and still maintains many connections in that field, she decided spending upwards of 15 hours a day chained to a desk at a major fashion house would not be her future.
This decision was partly influenced by Whitney Houston's death, TANSU's primary musical inspiration. This event inspired her to share her talent as selflessly and remarkably as Houston had.
She began recording an EP with Dave Rublin, a friend from college and member of platinum-selling band American Authors. Any time the artist would feel unmotivated, Rublin would encourage her to keep working within their collaboration of his musical knowledge and her acrobatic voice.
A highlight of their collaboration is the seductive neo-soul epic "Downtown." TANSU's voice floats among Rublin's surging background, which is enhanced by a humming bassline that slowly builds to an electric finish. The musical soundscape mirrors TANSU's bittersweet lyrics about love, sex and jealousy, all in an effort to understand nights of emotional recklessness.
The centerpiece of the EP is "Got 2 Me," a loose ballad in which TANSU allows her powerhouse vocals to reach their full potential, ranging from deep murmurings to bold belts. The song is an emotional followup to Downtown highlighting themes of vulnerability within relationships. The song is full of the artist's classic sultry energy, as well as the multifaceted collection of influences behind the musical background.
The finale of the EP comes in the form of “Easy Love,“ a cathartic and soulful song about goodbyes.
"It is a song about letting go of a friend while respecting the life and beauty the relationship once shared. A loving tribute to someone you can no longer be there for, the song helps us all tell our former friends to take it easy, love," she said in an article with Celebmix.
The track is highly influenced by electronic music, with dramatic and addictive beats supporting TANSU's jazzy and heartfelt vocals. The song highlights the fluidity of long-term relationships with creative and graceful lyrics. The artist draws on classic 2000s R&B in this track, accentuated by Rublin's lavish supporting rhythms.
TANSU is an artist of irrepressible spirit and stellar talents, all of which have been cultivated through years of practice and absorbing the influences of music's most soulful queens. Her upcoming EP chronicles her well-lived life through poetic lyrics, shining vocals and varied musical influences in a brilliantly defined way.
