The Highly Anticipated Debut of Alysha Monique

There are many paths artists can to take in the music industry. Some immediately focus on recording music, creating bedroom demo tapes that springboard them seemingly instantaneous success in the form of record deals and huge advances with one of the majors. Others spend years perfecting their craft, joining bands, accruing studio credits, and acting as a musical mercenary as they develop their own sound. Yet another path is focused on live performances, cultivating their charisma and learning what it takes to command an audience.

Alysha Monique took this third path, building a portfolio of live performances throughout Chicagoland for nearly a decade before releasing her first album of original music, titled “’6776’ An Alysha Monique Prelude” on July 16 2024. She came up in the legendary (and somewhat notorious) Underground Wonderbar, a live music 4am joint and musician incubator, a venue known for extended jam sessions that paired young, budding performers with Chicago music scene veterans. The environment was uniquely powerful and somewhat volatile, where musicians would rotate in and out depending on availability – sometimes between performances at other venues or other times when there was a lull in tending the bar. During the time it was active, it was one of the most reliable places in Chicago to experience good live music 365 days a year and it was a breeding ground for creatives, spawning multiple professional musicians in Chicago with many eventually finding success across the nation.

This acuity for live performances was imparted in Alysha, attested by her comfort controlling and audience and leading a band. This expertise is realized in the polished and fully conceptualized nature of her debut album, which uniquely captures the energy of one of her live shows. It’s simultaneously relaxed and assured (ex – the albums starts with a playful “are we recording?”) yet the grooves are both complex and jazzier than most standard R&B fare. Her acuity for navigating traditional jazz, neo soul, and fusion was affirmed during her years contributing to a variety of projects ranging from her artist tribute work with Bobby Wonderful and live performances with the house music party organizers Tribe. Her versatile vocal range also draws upon bits of opera and gospel choir, which pop up at different points across the album to provide an essence of sophistication without crossing over into stuffiness. For example, on the track “Come to Me” she dances around the final chorus through a frolicking baronial falsetto - and this proficiency persists throughout the album across all the subsequent songs.

Alysha’s plethora of experience in the Chicago music scene also provides her the advantage of a large network of musicians and its clear the members of her backing band “The Family Divine” were judiciously selected. The musicians on the recording are not only supremely talented but their skill sets are aligned with the jazzy neo soul that defines Alysha’s music. Subsequently, there is a distinctive groove that both exhibits an embrace of the roots of black music as well as applying modern concepts to the album, and its rare to hear such a fully developed sound on a debut recording. A myriad of influences are evident including aspects of traditional jazz, R&B, and soul which are all channeled into a unique mix across the project and into each individual song. There are shades of Jill Scott, Etta James, Haitus Kiayote, and Hil Street Soul, so the project is highly recommended fans of those musicians and groups.

The lyrics touch on a myriad of subjects: self-actualization, finding one’s place in the world, cosmic destinies, and trusting the universe. There is a confidence on the album that comes from both putting in years of performing to live audiences and rising above the challenges that naturally come with building a career in the entertainment industry. This self-assuredness is contrasted with a few tracks on the first half of the album that speak of losing someone important (“So Blind”) and pleading to reconnect (“Come Back To Me”). The wisdom that comes from loss, expertly captured in these songs, informs the confidence on the back half of the album. Despite what could be considered heavy subject matter, the album’s overall vibe stays firmly planted in joy and breeziness, with Alysha flaunting her prowess with lots of improvised vocal runs and acapella freestyles. She is likely already in the pantheon of vocalists who can sing in 5 octaves and she isn’t afraid to unload her vocal arsenal at a moments notice – despite the skills of the backing band, Alysha’s singing is unequivocally the main event.

In the age of singles, the refined nature of this album rewards those who listen to the whole project in a single sitting. Though not necessarily a concept album, the tracks do seem to follow a natural progression – in a way following a person’s ascension from uncertainty towards self-actualization. While the first half of the album deals with separation and remorse, the second half of the album re-calibrates (after an impromptu cypher) towards an optimistic and uplifting destination. Standout tracks from each side of the project include “So Blind”, “Come Back To Me”, the affirmational “Spirit Lead Me”, “Find Your Way”, “Go Spread Your Little Wings”.

Check out the album at the link below and make sure to follow Alysha’s Instagram to catch her at one of her upcoming live performances.