Tei Shi

Valerie Teicher Barbosa (born 4 October 1989), best known by her stage name Tei Shi, is a Colombian and Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer based in New York City.

She released her first singles and music videos in 2013, also performing live for the first time at CMJ.

Tei Shi released her debut extended play, Saudade, in November 2013, which Noisey described as a "layered masterpiece of melodies... expertly entwined vocal loops, and shivery sonics."

In the summer of 2013 Tei Shi released her first single, which she announced would later appear on her upcoming debut EP.

Titled "M&Ms," Dummy Magazine called the single "transportive and exceedingly gorgeous," stating "minimal background instrumentation is limited to an echoing drum track, mouth organs and a few lonely guitar bits, but they provide a solid framework for her soft, cooing a cappella."

A video was released along with the song, and directed by singer-songwriter Grimes' brother Mac Boucher.

She performed her first shows in the fall of 2013, playing at CMJ.

According to Noisey, she loops live vocals during her set to create a layered effect.

On November 1, 2013, she released the second promo song for the EP, titled "Nevermind the End."

The Fader called the track "slinky" and "more traditionally structured" than her first song.

Kim Taylor Bennett of Noisey described the track as one of the "best seven songs" of 2013, and praised her lyrics, harmonies, and tonal buildup.

Hypetrak wrote that Tei Shi's "airy" vocals "contrastingly bump well with the heavy production and hints of charming synth pop."

A third promo single, "Nature Vs. Nurture," was released on November 5, 2013.

Stereogum wrote that the track is a "cascading bedroom-R&B and future pop track that evolves from quiet, but dizzying layers of harmonies into fleshed out vocal rounds with a Tropcalía-tinged backbone."

Tei Shi released her six-track debut EP Saudade, on November 12, 2013.

Among her collaborators was her friend producer/writer Gianluca Buccellati, who she had met while a student at Berklee.

The word "saudade" is Portuguese, describing a sentimental yearning for someone or for the happiness of a former place or time.

Her previous singles were included on the EP, as well as several new tracks.

According to Noisey, it is a "layered masterpiece of melodies that duck and dive, expertly entwined vocal loops, and shivery sonics."

In 2014, she released two singles: "Adder(f)all" and a cover of Beyoncé's "No Angel".

She was also a guest artist on the track "Holiest" by Glass Animals, an English indie rock band.

In January 2014, Tei Shi released her first single from Saudade, Adder(f)all", as a free mp3 . She told Rolling Stone that the song resulted from three different song ideas joined. "Instead of making a really structured song I just looped these three sections/melody lines over one another, building them up and layering with harmonies.

It was originally a capella and when the instrumentals were added it really came into its own." In the same month a remix of "Closer (Heart Shaped Birthmark Remix)" by Spirals hit the blogosphere with the prominent blog Kick Kick Snare stating, "SPIRALs has found a way to make something already so smooth into a beautifully jagged juxtaposition of a mixture.

A robotic end to a beautiful romance."

She released her second music video in March 2014 for the track "Nevermind the End."

Also in March 2014 she was a featured guest on the track "Holiest" by Glass Animals, an English indie rock band.

She sings a duet with Glass Animals' Dave Bayley, with both voices representing the perspectives of different characters.

Under the Radar called her vocal performance "delicate," with Vogue describing them as "airy and minimalist [and] R&B-inflected."

In summer of 2014 she collaborated with Gianluca Buccellati, and together they arranged and recorded a cover of "No Angel" by Beyoncé.

Wrote Stereogum, "In her cover, Tei Shi keeps the song's lovesick drift intact but adds all these trickly little bloop-pop flourishes."

The Fader described the cover as an "'80s-leaning take," stating that "breezy vocals and glowing synths were made for this role."

Her second extended play, Verde, was released in 2015.

Saudade later received a physical release in 2015 through the indie label Turntable Kitchen.

Her debut album, Crawl Space, was released on March 31, 2017, and her sophomore LP La Linda on November 17, 2019.

On July 17, 2020, Tei Shi released the EP "Die 4 Ur Love", with a deluxe version following on December 11, 2020.

On June 16, 2022, Tei Shi released the single "GRIP", her first release as a fully independent artist.

Teicher was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Colombian parents.

After spending her childhood in Bogotá, her family later moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

She is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and was raised Jewish.

She attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and afterwards moved to New York City.