by René Cobar (@renefcobar)
Musicians have great superpowers, one of them is their ability to capture fleeting thoughts forever. Brooklyn, New York, resident Felicia Douglass does just this on her latest record Stress is Free. The EP, utilizing talent and tools, compiles a short collection of critiques worth a listen for their distinct sound and feel. The mention of Douglass' unique soundscape creation is worthy due to its source: it roots in the production skills her father passed on to her via recording methods like Pro Tools, an endearing genesis for a musician in full flight. Combined with Douglass' natural talent and her ability to layer where needed, each song has an in-artist-mind feel that captivates.
The first is titled "City Desolate," a track powered by a mechanical tip-toe beat that sharply contrasts the very human, warm vocals from Douglass. The song begins to float as piano notes sustain and tinkle, and just as you settle into her thoughts, she makes them roar with vocal pitch elevations and robust bass plucks. "So you got destroyed, still failing / The year is getting shorter / Every circuitry, they closed last week," she sings, reflecting perhaps on the state of isolation in which most of the world found themselves last year and the year before that, and the one before that too. Ultimately, the collective request from this desolate city is for more time to regain what is lost - a plea made many times these days.
The second song of the five-track record, "You Seem to Understand," is a two-verse sonic skip that highlights Douglass' vocal range, syncing to a frigid digital piano composition that seems to sing along with her honeyed pitch that rises and falls. “Fitting Disruption" makes good on its name as drones, static, and layered thoughts unleash on the ears. Douglass shows off her ability to create a soundscape to fit her mood, in this case, one of distortion. Her voice weaves upon itself such that each layer feels like a completely different personality. Accompanied by explosive synth swells and bass bumps, the track has all the pent-up angst of a human in solitude. This section is where it is evident that Douglass can capture her thoughts and make them vivid, even if they are short. You feel as though you have entered her mind and, in the process, discovered something you had been feeling too.
Near the end of the record, "Evil Consumerism" is a short commentary on overspending that bops to a bongo-infused beat with castanets to boot. The final track, "What If," is a swift vocalization by Douglass that pierces through the acoustics to deliver one final nectar-sweet note. Douglass' vocals feature in known projects such as BAILE, Toro y Moi, Dirty Projectors, Ava Luna, and Gemma, and that conclusive note shows why: she adds a human touch to any production. Ultimately, Stress is Free is the marriage of human and machine to create something that resembles a thought - fleeting as it may be, its produced music has true staying power.