Make believe I make believe

The fourth album from Colombian-Canadian pop shape-shifter Valerie Teicher, aka Tei Shi, radiates with the same spirit of liberation she brought to 2024’s Valerie, on which she reclaimed her independence following a sour major-label experience. Recorded during a week-long Vancouver Island retreat with producers Noah Beresin and Tommy English, Make believe I make believe begins on an intimate note, with “Anything (best friend)” and “Best be leaving” establishing a tranquil dream-pop vibe befitting the album’s hermetic origins. But it’s only a matter of time before this ever-restless artist starts turning up the heat and pulling from her full genre-spanning spectrum of influences: “Drop dead” showcases a Robyn-esque flair for channelling romantic drama into empowering dance-pop, while “Iris” outfits a candy-coated melody worthy of a ’60s girl group to warbly ’80s indie guitars and frenetic breakbeats. The album hits its joyous peak with “222”, where Tei Shi and fellow Colombian expat Loyal Lobos trade bilingual verses about giving would-be paramours the wrong phone number over a booming dembow beat.