Salt ‘n Citrus
Twenty-one year old musician Teri Underhill released her first album last June, Salt ‘n Citrus. Despite growing up in Iowa, she is trongly influenced by her Hawaiian heritage. Underhill’s debut album highlights some traditionally Hawaiian & island musical themes such as acoustic strings and diverse percussion instruments. She mixes these sounds with a vocal style that somehow feels like both a modern Indie star and a late 90’s ska singer. The album is ten tracks, and she uses the songs to discuss a deeply personal things like relationship ending and some internal growing pains.
The album opens with “DRUNK,” and you can immediately hear the Hawaiian inspiration. Instrumentally, steel drums provide a melody, and a brass section provides energetic accents. There are also some fun percussive choices. Despite serious subject matter about the dark sides of drinking, the song is deceptively upbeat, and a strong opening track. The next track that stuck out to me was “24 Hours.” The track has only an acoustic guitar playing simple chords, so the focus has to be on Underhill’s vocals. I found her style here to be strongly reminiscent of an early, No Doubt-era Gwen Stefani.
The last three songs on the album show a bit more range. Underhill’s track “47” is a sharp departure. It uses electronic instruments and has an R&B feel. The singing style is also more assertive, and the lyrics convey a deep hurt from being cast aside. Next, “Pule Ho’oulu” is a short, a capella song that is sung in native Hawaiian, with only the faint sounds of the ocean in the background. It will give you goose bumps. The final song is “’Imi Ola,” and features a mournful piano and heartbreaking lyrics about falling out of love. The lyrics stop, but the piano keeps playing for about a minute with either wind or heavy breathing getting louder. The piano ends with a discordant sound, then the wind drops out, and the album closes with what sounds like a final breath.
Teri Underhill grew up in Iowa but spent her summers with her grandmother in Hawaii. Her grandmother was a singer and a ukulele player, which encouraged Underhill to connect with her Hawaiian roots. Underhill is also a songwriter and poet, and published her first book, Tsunami in 2020. Underhill also spends her time advocating for women and the LGBTQ+ community. Be sure to keep an eye on Teri Underhill, she’s definitely not about to stop anytime soon.
