{"id":29097,"date":"2025-02-27T05:30:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T10:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=29097"},"modified":"2026-06-24T12:44:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T16:44:48","slug":"album-review-jhelisa-galactica-rush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/27\/album-review-jhelisa-galactica-rush\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Jhelisa \u2013 Galactica Rush"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"One of the more compelling musical undercurrents of the \u201890s and beyond is trip hop. Bands like Massive Attack and Zero 7 crafted a sound that drew from jazz and soul, with a sleek and urbane sensibility. Yet it all sounded positively modern. Many of those groups adopted a guest-vocal approach, not unlike (of all things) the Alan Parsons Project; each tune would feature a vocalist whose skills best suit the specific material. So it was that Jackson, Mississippi-born Jhelisa Anderson would sing lead on Massive Attack\u2019s Heligoland<\/i>.<\/p>\n

By that point in her career, Anderson had already made a mark, singing with Paul Weller and others. And she had already released her solo debut, 1994\u2019s Galactica Rush<\/i>. Now \u2013 more than 30 years after its release \u2013 that record is receiving a vinyl reissue.<\/p>\n

The title track is hypnotic and knotty at once. The instrumentation often feels like musical crosstalk, with wild, free-form sax lines darting in and out of the mix. But the sultry, throbbing beat and Jhelisa\u2019s cool vocals bring it all together. \u201cThere\u2019s Noting Wrong\u201d is funkier, with a feel reminiscent of \u201870s soul. Yet it doesn\u2019t feel especially retro. And here Jhelisa\u2019s singing is strong and assertive, contrasting with her understated delivery on the opener.<\/p>\n

Those stuttering trip hop beats form the foundation of the head-nodder \u201cHold My Peace.\u201d The tune splits the difference between a hypnotic vibe and a kinetic character, folding in some wonderful strings, shimmering piano and acoustic guitar for a cinematic feel. \u201cWhirl Keeps Turning\u201d is a showcase for Jhelisa\u2019 peerless vocals. With stacked harmonies, it\u2019s thrilling stuff. The subtle wah-wah guitar only makes it better. The tune does bear an unsettling and unexpected similarity to \u2013 believe it or not \u2013 Steve Miller Band\u2019s \u201cFly Like an Eagle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDeath of a Soul Diva\u201d serves up more unexpected sounds, this time in the form of a harmonica intro. The arrangement has a Steely Dan-meets-the \u201800s feel. \u201cFriendly Pressure\u201d showcases some strikingly beautiful acoustic guitar, some of Jhelisa\u2019s best vocal work yet and a rock-solid, slinky beat. In fact the drum work on Galactica Rush<\/i> \u2013 even though it\u2019s often programmed \u2013 is among the album\u2019s most striking and fully-realized features.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaby God\u201d has plenty of tasty Jhelisa vocal work, but its arrangement is the track\u2019s most notable quality. By this point in the album, the programmed beats \u2013 alluring as they may be \u2013 begin to feel a bit static. To be fair, as a listening experience, Galactica Rush<\/i> is set up in a way that ultimately makes the consistent percussion a feature, not a bug.<\/p>\n

\u201cSweet Dreams (4UIC)\u201d has a ghostly feel; the word \u201ccinematic\u201d comes again to mind. The album concludes with the lengthy \u201cSecret Place.\u201d The track has exotic percussion elements and a dreamy, placid feel. Jhelisa\u2019s cool, stacked vocals are reminiscent \u2013 somehow \u2013 of David Bowie\u2019s Lodger<\/i>-era musical adventures.<\/p>\n

\u201cFriendly Pressure\u201d was, by the way, was also the subject of a series of house\/dub remixes by Sunship. Available separately on 12\u201d vinyl, the single with five versions of \u201cFriendly Pressure\u201d will appeal to dance fans; listening types may find it of less value. This listener finds them relentlessly annoying, headache-inducing and ultimately pointless. But seeing as how Jhelisa Anderson had no real involvement in their creation, let\u2019s not hold the single\u2019s existence against her. Instead let\u2019s celebrate the overlooked wonder that is Galactica Rush<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the more compelling musical undercurrents of the \u201890s and beyond is trip hop. Bands like Massive Attack and Zero 7 crafted a sound that drew from jazz and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,65,72,73],"tags":[5634,5635],"class_list":["post-29097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reissue","category-review","category-trip-hop","category-vinyl","tag-jhelisa","tag-jhelisa-anderson","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","cat-72-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29097"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31764,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29097\/revisions\/31764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}