In my overly biased opinion, Chapel Hill puts out some of the best musicians period — James Taylor, Ben Folds (Five), Squirrel Nut Zippers, Archers of Loaf, Loudon Wainwright III, Elizabeth Cotton, Mojo Nixon, Superchunk, and Southern Culture on the Skids, just to name a few. The a cappella scene has its own hotbed of heatseeking missiles on the Hot 100 musicmakers with the Clefs, the Loreleis, THV, Harmonyx, Cadence, Achordants, and especially the Tarpeggios. This mixed voice group can twist and turn and ring and wrang every inch of desire and nuance and gutpunch and longing out of a single note. Just sublime all the freaking time.

Mon dieu!

Such is the case with their quartet EP from April of '23. Push to Start features Hallucinate, Sweet, Rose Leaves, and Flesh & Bone, all of which capture the essence of the spring semester group after harmonizing the hell out of the fall. They had a new recording released just a few months later in August, and I can't wait to sink my teeth and ears into that one as well.

I won't wax poetic, the tracks are good. Hallucinate seems a little sleepy in comparison to the other three so that's really what makes it a "4"; it's solid as a single, but in such a configuration, it's probably better as a third track, or it needs to be amped up a notch or two in the excitement vein to make it really pierce the skull of the listener. It starts out in a revved up motion but kinda sits idling in its greatness. Jammed all day, but not a bit sweaty.

I know it's damning to say that a track is forgettable, and I don't mean it in a harsh way, but Sweet is overshadowed by the other three songs. I like it. I don't remember it at all. I don't think the rap section adds that much to the song. I think if this arrangement had utilized elongated space into the soundscape of the song, it would have helped. The Tarpeggios seem rushed in their execution, whereas adding air to each of the lines could have created something otherworldly.

Rose Leaves takes my breath away. I'm done. I'm being blessed with trios of heavenly upper-voiced singers each year and Amy Fromal, Madeline Yara, and Abigail McNaughton may be it for this year.

Flesh & Bone suffers the same fate as Hallucinate with its lack of full throttle oompf but pulls it off just a bit better so it gets a higher score. And Yara's solo is just divine.

Push to Start doesn't work as well as it should as a collected EP. As singles, each of them bangzoom to the rafters. It's the mandated comparison that brings the project as a whole down. On value and artistry, I'm sticking with a "5". The tracks are baller, but as a full listening experience, it's a little less.

Well, I certainly didn't expect to be reviewing the Tarpeggios so soon after their last release, Homeward, but I'm definitely not mad about it. The group appears to have found a formula in releasing shorter EPs on a regular basis, and they have done another masterful job with Push to Start. There are some moments where I feel their immense creativity goes a little too far, but that goes to show just how many tricks the group has up its sleeve.

The level of creativity showcases itself from the very first track, which is Dua Lipa's Hallucinate and I admittedly had to listen to it a number of times to attempt to catch everything. Dua's bass line is a pretty steady pattern throughout the whole track: a repeated six note sequence and relatively predictable chord progression that's easy to follow. But, that's not what Kapil Ramanarayanan and Gayathri Raghavendra decided to arrange, as that would be far too easy. Throughout their bass line are more syncopated rhythms and interplay with the other vocal parts to add more unpredictability that separates it from the original. The beginning of the second chorus doesn't really sound like Dua Lipa at all, and I have to remind myself what song I'm listening to. This more involved bass is combined with the vocal percussion of Ramanarayanan, which has me wondering how he's able to do this vp part live without passing out, and I initally felt like it was almost too much. That said, the trading of the vocals and syllabes in the upper background parts is seamless, and Sindhura Kondaveeti's solo hits in all the right places, highlighted by an amazing upward vocal run in the final chorus that's just a "chef's kiss". It's hard to not give this track anything but a "5" simply for everything that it gives the listener. It's truly a tour de force that will give everyone something to grab onto.

The other three tracks on the album are beautifully performed as well, and the only reason I don't give most of them a "5" is because Hallucinate just set the bar so incredibly high. As I mentioned in the Homeward review, it's clear that the group has incredible talent and the musicians all pay attention to the musicality of each track. Dynamics are paid attention to throughout, as well as the overall musical arc of every line, verse, and chorus. All of the soloists are perfectly selected: from Madeline Yara on Flesh & Bone, where she shows off her incredible vocal technique and range to simply glide across the whole track (listen to 2:50 to 3:20 to hear what I'm talking about), to the tight harmonies from Yara, Amy Fromal, and Abigail McNaughton in Rose Leaves.

I don't care if the next release is an EP or a full album — I simply need more music from the Tarpeggios to keep my fix going, as they are quickly becoming one of my current favorites in collegiate a cappella.

The Tarpeggios are back with another annual short release. A short album implies a short introduction, so let's dig right in.

Hallucinate hits you hard and fast. Filled with a plethora of digital effects, cluster chords, and driving rhythms, this track has one goal: make a statement. It's safe to say that this track does just that. Kapil Ramanarayanan and Gayathri Raghavendra penned an arrangement that keeps the listener guessing. However, with the amount of things happening all the time, there are moments where it sounds like too many things happening at once and either the soloist or individual background parts get buried.

Sweet and Rose Leaves are the strongest tracks of the album. These tracks have smoother musical edges. Sweet is a slow burn, starting with a smooth R&B groove. The play between all the vocalists is seamless, giving different dimensions to the piece while being well aligned and balanced. The piece then kicks into overdrive with the rap solo, and continues to grow and evolve until the very last seconds. Rose Leaves is a folk piece that features a lovely floating trio from Amy Fromal, Madeline Yara, and Abigail McNaughton. These two pieces simply work. The backgrounds work incredibly well to support the lead vocalists while being interesting in their own right. The result is a smooth listen that makes my ears very happy.

I want to love Flesh & Bone so much more than I do. This piece has a lack of dynamic impact. There's nothing inherently wrong with the song; there are all sorts of little nuggets of background rhythms and interesting moments. Madeline Yara is a phenomenal soloist. However, this piece is based upon the dynamics. There are plenty of microdynamics between the phrases. However, there are no macrodynamics when the sudden drastic changes need to happen. The result is a piece that feels flat and without any major impacts.

When all is said and done, Push to Start just feels inconsistent. There are highs and there are lows. However, the path between them is at times very inconsistent. The dynamics either come out strong, or softer with a level of subtlety. There is no middle ground, and the mapping to go from one to the other is absent. With the release consisting of only four tracks, the rougher edges of the album feel more prominent. With more points, it could be a very strong album with just a few small missteps that might even be purely overlooked. However, under the microscope, the flaws become more apparent and weigh down the score just enough to notice. Take a listen and see if you agree.