Voices in Your Head, a co-ed group from the University of Chicago, has established a reputation for excellence in the collegiate a cappella world. Show Me How You Burlesque maintains this high standard in many ways. Couched in the illusion of being in a legit burlesque club, the track starts and ends with glasses clinking and audience reactions. This ambiance perfectly "sets the stage", if you will, for a powerhouse vocal to cut through the din.

I want to take this moment to say that it takes a certain kind of singer to do justice to a Christina cover. Luckily, Shubha Vedula, the soloist on this track, has skills in spades. When you’ve got a vocalist of this caliber and ability in your arsenal, you find a way to use them, and Voices in Your Head did just that.

The production value is top-notch – clean and emotive. The tom-heavy percussion really drives the energy forward. The supporting singers blend beautifully and exude fun.

The only thing that keeps Show Me How You Burlesque from true perfection is the arrangement. It’s painfully repetitive. Yes, little things change throughout and it’s never exactly the same, but the tweaks are so subtle that it doesn’t cue a sense of ebb or flow for the listener. It just melds together to become one uniform block. There’s a fun call and answer section to break things up, then we go into a slightly different uniform block. The chord changes in this section are a nice shift from the previous block, but it quickly becomes monotonous in its own right. Don’t get me wrong, the arrangement serves the original intent quite well, but I kept waiting for interesting moments or style changes to shake things up. No such luck.

Bottom line, Show Me How You Burlesque is a fun track. The arrangement doesn’t stand out, but the soloist takes it nearly all the way by herself. Add to this fantastic supporting vocals, percussion, and production, and you have a track that is more than worth checking out.