Album Review: Tei Shi – Make Believe I Make Believe

Dreamy control, quiet power.

Tei Shi’s 2025 album Make Believe I Make Believe arrives with a quiet provocation. In an era where streaming platforms flatten feeling into algorithmic wallpaper, lo-fi beats engineered to fade into the background, Tei Shi reminds listeners that ease does not have to come at the expense of intention. Drifting and presence can coexist. Calm does not require disengagement.

Her fourth independent release fuses singer-songwriter intimacy with a sleek, imaginative electronic palette. Drawing from ’00s dream pop, ’90s trip-hop and ’80s sophisti-pop, the ten-track album filters smart, self-possessed lyricism through a lens of contemplative introversion. Touchstones like Lhasa de Sela, Nilüfer Yanya, Cate Le Bon and Everything But the Girl linger in the margins, but the record never feels derivative. Tei Shi sounds fully in command of her own language.

That control is evident in the album’s cohesion. The sequencing pulls forward effortlessly, built on well-crafted beats, looping rhythms, twinkling keys and slow-burning synth swells. Jazzy guitar chords drift in and out, occasionally roughened with a touch of grit that keeps the gloss from becoming sterile. Her breathy soprano glides over tasteful harmonies, while minor-key arrangements establish mood without tipping into melodrama. These elements could have collapsed into an aesthetic haze with no emotional center. Instead, restraint and purpose sharpen every choice.

Standout tracks like “Drop Dead,” “Montón” and “Iris” foreground percussion and rhythm, letting groove carry much of the emotional weight. Elsewhere, “222 (con Loyal Lobos)” and “Aphrodite” settle into playful slow jams that blur the boundary between bedroom intimacy and late-night dance floors. Lyrically, Tei Shi anchors the record with reflections on romance, renewal and emotional reckoning—plainspoken, unsentimental and quietly resilient.

Make Believe I Make Believe succeeds not by demanding attention, but by rewarding it. What initially feels like a gentle ambient backdrop gradually reveals careful construction and quiet intention. The atmosphere invites repeated listens, and each return uncovers new detail—proof that the album’s strength lies not just in how it sounds, but in how patiently it unfolds.