Tash Sultana Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Boilen, April 7, 2017 Last May, Tash Sultana posted a selfmade video, just her in her living room with guitar, laptop and a great song called Within five days it had drawn a million views. This 21yearold MalteseAustralian got a guitar from her grandfather when she was three, she says, and has played it every day since. It s astonishing to watch Sultana s fluidity on her instrument, like a natural extension of her body. (She also plays bass, saxophone, trumpet, flute and more, but kept it simple at the Tiny Desk. ) I thought I had a lot of energy watching her bounce from guitar to drum machine to two separate microphones and then hopping barefoot from looping pedal to effect pedal as she builds her songs was exhilarating and exhausting. There s more here than an exercise in virtuosity, her music is filled with adventure and ambition. These songs are rapturous and resonant. Tash has just finished a monthlong, soldout U. S. tour. The EP Notion is available now. iTunes it