Tasha All This And So Much More

'In `All This and So Much More' Tasha is an artist flung open. For Tasha, the last few yearshave been propulsive, dynamic, bursting at the seams. They've included painful encounterswith grief; a sudden break up; new flirtation; new hair; the glitter of world travel and not least,a role in Tony-nominated Broadway musical `Illinoise' which adapts Sufjan Steven's `Illinois'for the stage. If `Tell Me What You Miss The Most' was an introspective meditation on lovewith a few moments of glancing toward what's next, `All this and So Much More' is Tashaturned outward, flourishing, telling us what it's like to take life by the chin and look it in theeye.Take, for example "Eric Song." This was the first song to be written on the album, pennedwhile Tasha grappled with the sudden, tragic death of Eric Littman, the co-producer of herlast album. Though the instrumentation is a familiar 3/4 guitar strum, lulling us into acomforting waltz, Tasha's voice is breathy with grief, adding depth and dimension to thehushed sound. "No, I'm not alone after all / You must be near / Facing this soaring sprawl,"she sings, transforming the experience of loss into a talisman of love and courage meant tohelp usher in a new self.Said a different way, `All This and So Much More' is a full-throated ode to all of the ups anddowns of becoming. In the opening track, "Pretend," when Tasha sings about "feelingsoutgrowing this little life," we get the sense, both lyrically and sonically, of someone in thethroes of growth. This is an album crafted with a big, ambitious sound (in part, thanks to theproduction of Gregory Uhlmann)_cinematic droning, orchestral woodwinds, dazzling arrays ofjangling guitar, all lining up to capture a sweeping moment in Tasha's life. Written over thecourse of 2022 and 2023, right on the cusp of Tasha being cast in Illinoise, the songs in thisalbum invoke friendship, heart ache, flirtation, doubt. From the social anxiety of "Party" ("Dothey think I'm funny? / Did they like my joke...