(July 24, 2024) As a website that reviews soul music, it isn’t unusual for us to receive submissions from or about artists claiming to hold the mantle for the revered female vocalist forebearers of the 1970s and 80s, ranging from Phyllis Hyman to Angela Bofill to Anita Baker. And many of these younger vocalists successfully stand on the shoulders of those legends. But it is difficult to imagine anyone who captures it all like Terisa Griffin.
Now two decades into a career that has included time as a background singer, an indie soul leader and even as a successful contestant on NBC’s The Voice, Griffin is a vocal powerhouse who has been hidden in plain sight for many adult soul fans. Successfully capturing both the musical vibe and the glamor of the Golden Age of female soul singers, the Chicago-based chanteuse is a reminder of why certain sounds and artists stay with us and even grow in stature with time – an anachronism in the current era of too many throwaway songs.
It has been nearly a decade since we’ve heard a new album from Griffin, but that drought ended last week with her new release, More Than A Woman. The album finds Griffin embracing a nighttime soulful groove, creating a sexy, romantic album that is a near perfect fit into her oeuvre as a singer, songwriter and producer.
For our newest First Listen, we’re focusing on the late night ballad, “Underneath It All,” a cool midtempo with a light Latin touch, on which Griffin masterfully builds the romantic vibe, slowly moving from gentle opening to full out sensual vamp as the song develops. It is one of a series of fantastic performances on an album that is really unlike anything else on the radio right now.
Check out “Underneath It All” below, and use it as your gateway to More Than A Woman and the music of Terisa Griffin.
By Chris Rizik
