A profilic artist in their own right, Philadelphia-based vocalist and producer E Jane turned in one of the revelations of 2017 with the release of ‘fantasii’, their full-length debut as popstar alter ego MHYSA. Read what the likes of Pitchfork, The Wire, The Fader and The Quietus have to say about ‘fantasii’ and catch MHYSA’s Dutch live premiere at Rewire 2018.
““MHYSA’s debut album often plays like one of those “as heard from another room” remixes on Tumblr—if the other room were an abandoned aircraft hangar. The Philadelphia vocalist and producer punctuates the LP with covers of Donna Summer and Prince songs sung against striking silence or industrial beats, but MHYSA’s own tracks feel similarly (and compellingly) disjointed, as delicate vocals tiptoe over increasingly complex percussion and detuned synthesizers.”
“R&B was subject to some revelatory mutations in 2017, none more beguiling than Fantasii. Inspired by ‘Janet Jackson, Donna Summer, Beyoncé, TLC and Prince’, the alter ego of performance artist E Jane sought to explore and express the desires of black women and femmes in a song cycle motivated by the need for strength and joy in the midst of ongoing conflict. Nina Power said: ‘When MHYSA covers fragments of Beyoncé’s ‘Naughty Girl’ (in ‘Tonight’), it’s as an unaccompanied, solitary voice in the wilderness.’”
“A number of the tracks eschew any kind of specific beat structures, with MHYSA’s voice instead left to carry proceedings through ‘Glory Be Black’ and ‘Siren Song’ with nothing but some cleverly employed reverb for company. It’s equal parts haunting and gorgeous. Elsewhere, fantasii goes into banger mode on ‘Strobe’, a short, sharp shock of energy built around trap claps and MHYSA’s sing-rap delivery, while ‘BB’ is a luxurious R&B ballad that maintains the oddball edge at its centre that is so crucial to fantasii’s success as a record. Christian Eede”
“MHYSA’s solo album fantasii, and in particular the song “Bb,” seeks to externalize these inner shores, like a magician pulling an endless string of silk scarves from her esophagus. “Do you ever think about it? / Do you ever-er-er-er,” she softly sings over a skeletal, slo-mo R&B sound bed. These past few years, popular culture has shifted the dial on vulnerability, reframing the ownership of intimate feelings as strength. That’s just as important as articulating rage: we need to be in full command of both our senses and our sensations to clear the way for evolution. MHYSA: she has the range.”
“This debut from queer black diva Mhysa, aka multimedia artist E Jane, is an experimental masterwork of industrial electro meets R&B. Largely self-produced, it has a sculptural, echoey sound, evoking the abrasive beauty of smashed mirror glass, plus glitchy, nonchalantly confident bangers such as Strobe. The Philadelphia performer uses her lithe, light vocals to investigate sensuality, vulnerability, loneliness and, most of all, black femininity. With gloriously jarring nods to Beyoncé, Janet Jackson and Prince, and striking spoken word interludes, this is a superb left-field album.”
E. Jane heads to The Hague next year for two live debuts at Rewire 2018: the first as her popstar alter egoMHYSA and the second alongside lawd knows as performance art duoSCRAAATCH.
Rewire 2018 takes place in The Hague NL from 6-8 April. Festival passes for Rewire 2018 are available atTickets.