Romance is a deeply embarrassing activity. You spend years developing emotional defenses, learning boundaries, becoming independent and generally convincing yourself that you are a fully functioning autonomous human being and then somebody smiles at you in the right way and suddenly you’re reconsidering the entire architecture.
Shelita’s “Open To You” is about that catastrophic administrative error.
It translates the point where attraction goes from being theoretical, to being embodied-warm, sexual and surprisingly carefree. Instead of revealing it as a huge emotional ordeal, Shelita portrays vulnerability as a choice. Either we choose to keep up the walls, or we acknowledge that we’ve found someone we care about enough to grant passage beneath them.
Musically, that sentiment is articulated in the way the song foregoes the predictable tropes of a power ballad, not striving for a sense that every point of emotion on the record should be something world-historically significant. It’s a song laid on a mellow, R&B informed backdrop of shimmering keys, understated drums and bass set against electric textures. Everything feels deliberately far from being overwrought or too over-the-top.
Because ultimately, “Open To You” is something inherently intimate and overproducing it would seem akin to shouting directly into someone’s ear.
Shelita’s vocals are warm and controlled, shifting between conversational passages and a more expansive chorus without suddenly turning the song into a vocal endurance competition. The performance has a playful quality that prevents the sensuality from becoming overly solemn. When she sings, “I am open to you, honey I am all for you,” the appeal is precisely how straightforward it is. There is no elaborate philosophical framework required. She likes this person. She wants them closer. The committee has reached a decision.
The writing also understands that attraction has a physical vocabulary. Candlelit rooms, flowers, water, bodies, movement and the ocean create a recurring sense of touch and immersion. These images could easily become unbearable if handled with too much reverence, but the laid-back arrangement keeps them grounded. The song isn’t pretending to discover the meaning of love. It’s enjoying the part where love, or at least the possibility of it, is still exciting.
That makes “Open To You” more interesting than its premise might initially suggest. Its central conflict isn’t really between two lovers. It’s between desire and self-protection. Independence tells you to maintain control; attraction asks you to voluntarily give some of it away.
What Shelita wants to say here is remarkably uncomplicated: sometimes opening yourself up is terrifying. Sometimes it’s stupid. Sometimes it’s exactly what you wanted. “Open To You” chooses the third option, puts a groove underneath it and refuses to apologize.
Follow Shelita
About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for various publications around the world, the former lead writer of review blogspace Atop The Treehouse and content creator for Manila Bulletin.
