Album Review: Stef Chura Shows That Everyone Makes “Messes”
Stef Chura’s debut studio album, Messes, is born of her years of experience playing around the Michigan underground, setting up DIY shows in the area, and moving around the state—nearly 20 times. I mention this because it explains the flowing freneticism of this album. Like a mess, it tosses songs like clothes across a room. Yet, Chura owns each article; with all of them saying something about her as an artist/person.
From “Slow Motion”, where Chura annunciates slowly every word in seeming emblem to how slow she feels her life going to “Spotted Gold”, where she asks a wild love to “Do That Again!” through a quick guitar and a vocal drawl, Chura tussles between emotional vulnerability and volatility. Her torn mentality makes sense when she feels her life unstable. Yes, the life of a musician has its perks of adventure, but as you hear her songs “Becoming Shadows” and “Time To Go”, you get the feeling that an artist’s life can be as much a burden as it is a blessing. It is the ultimate accepting that everything in life comes and goes. “Faded Heart” is a perfect example of Chura’s nagging sense of abandonment. As she drags her guitar chords like rhythmic chains and marvels over a friend long gone, you understand why Chura feels like such a mess. As she tries to make the vision of herself in her mind become a grand reality, she is confronted with her own humanity “Human Being”, her fast ambitions “Speeding Ticket”, and her spiritual/ literal “Messes”. Moving around with no idea when things get better, and not too many things to assure that you are even “good”, Stef Chura’s album is a brilliantly reality checker for young artists. Its all bout feeling broken but still finding worth in yourself to have the pieces of you stick together.
What I love about Stef Chura is that, lyrically, she is so self-aware. Her song “Thin” is the epitome of every moment you looked at yourself in a mirror and said “I am NOT being the best me!”. Everyone can relate to that sentiment, especially when young. The journey of self-discovery is ever-changing and winding, and Chura’s ability to say her flaws through actual self-analysis, and not self-pity, is refreshing. She wants to be better, even he does know what “better” is, and in songs like “On and Off Of You” and “You”, listeners will understand how your relationships with the world and others can distort you from your seeing your “better”. This explains why Chura uses emo- punk and blues-folk guitar melodies to back-drop her felt chaos. Moreover, her songs are perfectly paced to display their metered rhythms, in reflection to how life can be one constant beat after the other; no breaks even if you want one. Such nuance is why Chura’s “messes” will soon be clear for triumphs. For More Information On Stef Chura And To Buy Messes Click Here.
