“Make It Up” by Shura, Tuesday, March 30, 2021


























Shura's 2016 debut, Nothing's Real made a splash in the U.K. and Europe, but the electro-pop singer-songwriter didn't make a huge impact on the American charts, which is a shame. Hits like "What's It Gonna Be?" and "What Happened to Us?" were perfect hits for the mid-summer of the album's release, and I find that I come back to it every spring to early fall. But while her contemporaries like Ellie Goulding and Carly Rae Jepsen keep songs pretty light and upbeat, there's a sadness and introversion that hides the lyrics beneath even the most dance-floor-worthy tracks.

SMALL CHANGE IN THE UNIVERSE. The daughter of a British documentary filmmaker, Shura uses a documentary-style motif throughout Nothing's Real, featuring audio of Shura as a child speaking and singing. Also in the vein of a documentary, Shura sings about her breakup in the third person "Make It Up." Other songs, like "Indecision" and "Kidz 'n' Stuff," on the record talk about this (or another) breakup and preludes to that breakup, like "What's It Gonna Be?" and "What Happened to Us?" But in "Make It Up," you feel the breakup that just happened. You're on the train riding home realizing you're not going to see that person again. You don't answer the phone when your friends call because you're grieving. You release you have the power to change your mind, and so does that other person. But you came to that decision, or they came to it, because of someone's unhappiness. 

ONE LINE ACROSS TOWN. A relationship isn't about the big days but the ordinary ones. So the quieter tracks on a record make it lasting. You come for the hits and stay for the personality. Melancholy doesn't have to make a downer of a record. This was the case for Paramore's After Laughter and the same is true for Nothing's Real. A breakup can make a damn good record, but it doesn't have to be bitter. The lyrics of Nothing's Real argue that Shura is a good person with a lot to offer. She deserves more than to be put on the back burner when "you're at the beach." Sometimes you have to break up because you deserve more than the other person can offer. And that's pretty sad, as a statement on the other person's ability to love. 




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