On Slothrust’s latest album, bandleader Leah Wellbaum pushed herself to try and understand her own spirituality on a deeper level, putting a lens on the core wound of the human experience, the idea that we’re alone. With Parallel Timeline , Wellbaum explores the feeling of being trapped inside her own consciousness while simultaneously searching for a meaningful connection to the universe, and all the mysteries it contains.
Leah Wellbaum reveals the inspirations behind the project’s new album,Parallel Timeline. Officially out September 10th via Dangerbird Records, “Parallel Timeline” finds Slothrust amplifying their sound with new, experimental production and performing techniques. Leaning heavily into audacious improvisation, the sonic landscapes became the perfect canvas on which bandleader Leah Wellbaum could paint with the brush of her inner child, “a voice that allows ideas to flow freely and without censorship.”
she explains, much of the LP is about realizing that what we see is not necessarily the way things are, both for ourselves and the world around us. There is an optical illusion that occurs if you stare at our album art and then look at a white space and blink,” she explains. “Your brain inverts the colours of the inverted rainbow we present on our cover and what you see is a traditional rainbow. For me this is a symbol of the way we can become so bound to our reality that we forget life is full of illusory experiences and there is always more to be seen.
The resulting 10 tracks are some of the strongest of Slothrust’s career, filled with poetic honesty and precise, captivating guitar work. Early singles showed off the album’s moments of bluesy garage rock “Cranium”, the haunting “Strange Astrology” and the catchy “Once More For The Ocean” indie, and melodic grunge (the Lzzy Hale-featuring “The Next Curse”. Co-produced by Billy Bush with mastering from Heba Kadry,
We think we know what a rainbow looks like. So many of us see the classic ROYGBIV arched rainbow when we picture one in our mind, but there are so many different types of lesser-imagined rainbows and these are the ones I have fallen in love with. I often wonder how many types of rainbows are out there that we cannot perceive. Rainbows are an optical illusion that occurs when light refracts through moisture in the atmosphere. As a child they feel like impossible magic, a gift from the sky. We are so certain we know what we are looking at and what we are experiencing in this world, but it is impossible to know a lens other than our own. This is a guiding theme that steered the material you hear on Parallel Timeline. These songs are about a search for the truth and an acceptance that we may never have the answers we are looking for.
One of my favourite rainbows is called the fogbow, or the “white rainbow.” These are incredibly rare and in many ways antithetical to what I understood rainbows to be when I was younger. They are a reminder to keep an open mind in order to access some of life’s greatest mysteries and delights.
The forthcoming record, “Parallel Timeline”. Out September 10 via Dangerbird Records.
Jana Bahrich’s Luxembourg-based indie-rock project Francis of Delirium are back with their first new track since the April release of their 2021 “Wading” Ep. The shoegaze/grunge-inspired “Come out and Play” is out now alongside a music video, animated by Bahrich herself. Mixed by Jolyon Thomas (Royal Blood, Slaves) and mastered by Joe Lambert (Sharon Van Etten, Deerhunter), “Come out and Play” is menacing from the start with its flickering synths and thrumming bassline. Bahrich’s moody vocals evoke Nirvana in the verses, and ride tidal waves of power-chord crunch in the choruses—”Wash me, wash me away / Come out and play,” she commands, her wordless vocalizations both powerfully melodic and unsettling in the song’s crashing outro.
Anna Meredith has now announced some exciting gigs. Prior to the release of “Varmints”, Meredith was already well known as a writer of music for other people, taking commissions from international orchestras, operas and cultural institutions, writing symphonies, songs and string quartets, exploring boomwhackers, beatboxing and body percussion, her music being heard at the Proms, in motorway service station flash-mob performances and on haute-couture catwalks. She has been Composer in Residence with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, regularly commissioned by orchestras around the world and the first female composer to be commissioned for the Last Night of the Proms.
Then, in 2016, following a pair of warmly received EPs, Meredith released “Varmints”, her debut studio album and first-ever feature-length self-commissioned work. It was a gamble not just financially, involving months of unpaid writing, but also psychologically: by putting herself in charge, and front and centre, rather than simply being told what to write, she had no-one to answer to but herself – the pressure was on. Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, given Meredith’s extensive experience for knocking together fairly impressive, genre-defying pieces of music, Varmints was an unqualified success. A suite that juxtaposed hulking slabs of cross-rhythm and electronics with brittle gusts of delicate confession and irresistibly addictive pop melody, the record garnered rave reviews, and has continued to win over new fans well beyond the standard album release campaign, meaning Meredith and her band were still touring it round the world and the festival circuit two years later, culminating in a sold-out performance of the album in full at the Queen Elizabeth Hall last April, backed by the Southbank Sinfonia.
Other major Meredith projects in 2018 included “Anno” – a boundary-pushing collaboration with the Scottish Ensemble, in which original pieces of her work are intertwined with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – and Five Telegrams – a collaboration with 59 Productions, which was performed at the opening night of the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival (EIF). Then, earlier this year she released her first soundtrack, for the acclaimed Bo Burnham-directed A24 (Lady Bird, Moonlight, Ex Machina) film Eighth Grade. The film was released in the UK in April, following its successful premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and a wave of critical acclaim upon its 2018 US release.
A musical identity for the 18-dodgem installation at Somerset House, written and rewritten as the cars bump into each other, triggering new sounds and novel possibilities. The experience is an adrenaline burst, each aspect of the music functioning together to provide a high-octane antidote to the previous year’s dirge of lockdowns and restrictions. It’s a total sensory hit.”
Anna Meredith Metronome, Nottingham Wednesday 3rd November 2021
A Great Big Pile of Leaves released one of the most underrated albums of the 2010s with 2013’s “You’re Always On My Mind”, an album of smooth, mathy, super catchy indie/emo songs that picked up where early Minus The Bear left off and breathed new life into the niche subgenre. At the time, the TopshelfRecords-signed band seemed like they were on their way to the forefront of the still-emerging emo revival, but as the revival progressed throughout the decade, AGBPOL fizzled out. Now, eight years later, they’re finally set to return with new album “Pono” (due 8/13 via TopshelfRecords), and lead single “Beat Up Shoes” makes it feel like no time has passed since 2013. It channels the same charm as “You’re Always On My Mind“, but it doesn’t feel outdated, as very few bands attempted to fill the void that AGBOL left. And if they did try, they didn’t do it like A Great Big Pile of Leaves.
The new record—whether or not it’s named after Neil Young’s short-lived hi-res audio player—has a crispness to it that welcomes the not-too-distant change of seasons, providing each of the downtempo, mathy tunes a distinct personality defined by catchy guitar hooks, sentimental lyrics, and unique time signatures co-conspired by the band’s three members Pete Weiland, Tyler Soucy, and Tucker Yaro (and enhanced by mixing from Matt Weber). These elements reflect an array of sounds from a decade ago ranging from the pre-LVL UP outfit Spook Houses to, as the band notes, Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.
With the record out today, Weiland, Soucy, and Yaro took the time to go into a bit of detail on each of the tracks
1. “Yesterday’s Clothes”
Tyler Soucy: Pete had this rhythm guitar part kicking around since the release of our last album, and it had always been stuck in my head. We originally envisioned it as being something much more stripped-back, which is sort of alluded to in the intro. We directly mic’d Pete’s electric guitar to get the string sound and added a bunch of plate reverb and tape saturation to it—I love the way it opens the record.
Tucker Yaro: I want to live in Pete’s childhood—this track gives me a glimpse. Like a lot of these songs, I wrote the bass part before hearing the lyrics, and after a lot of experimentation I decided to be almost purely supportive to enhance the existing rhythm guitar and drum parts, until the bridge where I couldn’t resist stretching out a little.
2. “Hit Reset”
TS: More often than not, the bridge of our songs takes shape later in the process. Once we tracked the lead guitar line at the top of the bridge, the entire song felt like it fell into place. It really took the song to a new level. I had this 13/4 drum pattern in my back pocket for years and I was very excited to finally use it.
TY: “Hit Reset” feels quintessential to our catalogue. I’m struck by that great lead part on the bridge that says just enough. This is something I love about working with Pete, he has incredible chops but in a section like this you hear his restraint and the power of a simple, well-executed part. I didn’t realize the track was in 13 until I read Tyler’s comment above. The odd time is not an exercise, the riff just feels right and Tyler’s part complements it perfectly.
3. “Beat Up Shoes”
Pete Weiland: This song is essentially about building ramps with friends. We used to spend weekend nights driving around looking for construction sites in hopes of finding usable wood scraps in the dumpsters to build with. We would work through the eerie hours of the night, and spend the next day testing out the construction, which always seemed to end up with a foot of vert on it, no matter how much attention was paid to measurements. This is an ode to those missions.
4. “Waiting For Your Love”
TY: In some ways Matt Weber was given an impossible mixing task, and this track highlights how well he knows his gear, his room, and us. We’ve played with Matt for years on the road—he just knows how to execute in a lot of settings, but particularly at the board. It’s tough to find real estate in a song like this with so many layers and Pete’s lower vocal range, which has so much detail and great tone. We’re always trying to help with our extensive, sometimes exhaustive mix notes, and Matt was able to take our suggestions and run with them in what became a very collaborative and satisfying process. I’m proud of the results, particularly here.
5.“Halloween”
TS: This is my favourite song on the record. I don’t know why, but it reminds me of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, and I love that band.
6. “Kitchen Concert”
PW: While the lyrical content may seem silly on the surface, it’s among the most meaningful and sentimental tracks on the record. The song is a celebration of joyous times spent with my son during his first year, filled with activities from making music with kitchen utensils to pretending a cardboard box was a spaceship.
7. “Swimmer”
PW: This one took many detours during its creation and was fun to work on together. It was especially memorable trying to explain the time signature to Tucker and Tyler using only onomatopoeias.
TS: None of us know which part of this song is the chorus or the verse.
8. “Water Cycle”
PW: This song was inspired by a grade six science class assignment from when I was working as a paraeducator. The students were supposed to create a comic strip that showed a representation of the water cycle, illustrating each stage. One student in particular created this amazing, elaborate story of a water droplet who was adventuring through the different stages of the cycle. I thought this would be a neat idea for a song and connected the concept with feeling lost and trying to get home; that paired with always ending up in Queens somehow, no matter what subway car you get on.
9. “Writing Utensils”
TS: We wrote and recorded a different version of “Writing Utensils” back in 2011 or 2012 for a 7-inch vinyl project with Motion City Soundtrack. It’s always been one of our favourite tracks, and since it was never on digital services we really wanted to give it a second life with a few changes. Kevin at Topshelf told us that the second chorus needed to come back at the end of the song, and that stuck with me for nine years.
10. “Simple Pleasures”
TY: This is my favorite track on the record. It’s one of the songs I’m most excited to play live when we’re able to tour again. I love how repetitive and staccato the verse is in contrast to the expansive, flowing chorus and bridge. I remember tracking this alone late at night after everyone went to sleep and cranking up the headphones. After struggling to find the part earlier in the day, everything suddenly felt easy and right.
TS: “Simple Pleasures” was the last song that came together for Pono. We had originally thought that “Writing Utensils” was going to be the closer until “Simple Pleasures” became what it did. We tracked all of the final drums at Gradwell House in NJ with Matt engineering, and they have a beautiful Bechstein grand piano that Pete used as a layer in the bridge. I still remember when we all heard the playback and looked over at each other with a silent “yes.” The low-volume talking that you hear on the bridge is only there because Pete accidentally played two audio files at the same time while listening to rough mixes in his car. We recreated that moment with the same file and kept it in the mix.
New Album ‘Pono’ – Available August 13th, Topshelf Records. All music written, performed, and produced by A Great Big Pile of Leaves
On her latest project as Francis of DeliriumJana Bahrich attempts to piece together a sense of self-understanding while traversing a collision of reds and blues, various deep waterways, and oscillating ridges of guitar distortion. Like a rabid cartographer, the Luxembourg-based musician realizes that mapping our own humanity is messy and inordinately confusing. Her reflections result is the visceral, affecting EP “Wading”.
Wadingjoins Bahrich’s dynamic vocals—ranging from rare moments of fragile falsetto to volcanic yells—and spacious grunge-inspired compositions. There are bits of soaring guitars on the opening track “Lakes” that recall Explosions in the Sky, while grit-fuelled moments conjure the experiments of noisy forebears like Car Seat Headrest or Fontaines D.C. Bahrich’s post-punk/grunge/noise mixture is buttressed to fruition with producer/drummer Chris Hewett; especially poignant is the dramatic closer “I Think I’m Losing,” when Hewett collapses into the chorus.
After last year’s All Change EP, her sophomore follow-up is an impressive continuation of Bahrich’s catalogue. “Wading” is an intimate snapshot of an upcoming artist figuring out how individuality manifests (and how it isn’t really individual at all); what happens when those closest to us leave? Are we still the same? How does one choose to make sense of life’s lessons? Are they meant to be metaphorical or literal? These are only a few of the questions Francis of Delirium pokes at amidst the riotously fun, melodically grounded instrumentation.
1. “Lakes”
“Lakes” sets up the rest of the EP by speaking about identity and a sense of self that eventually starts to erode until that idea of self is gone and changed. The main idea in “Lakes” is that we are all fed by other people (or other “rivers”) to eventually form who we are: one large lake fed by other water streams. We are essentially the amalgamation of hundreds of people rather than one singular person. A lot of my self identity was tied to the people in my community at school, so once those relationships shifted as I left school my identity was challenged. That anchor was no longer there, that structure was gone. The question I sort of pose throughout the EP is, who am I now as these relationships morph?
2. “Red”
“Red” is the pushing away of someone and justifying it with your anger rather than rationally discussing your feelings. It’s believing something you thought to be true and then that being switched. It’s the loss of trust in a relationship. You’re left angry and confused, unsure of yourself, or who to trust. Instead of communicating effectively, you start to push away, preemptively moving into isolation as a defense mechanism to stop yourself from more hurt. Simultaneously the song challenges the goodness I see in myself, as a good friend, someone filled with love is gone, which distances you from this idea of yourself even further. So you’re pushing away someone else and pushing away a version of yourself you enjoy.
3. “Let It All Go”
It’s set over one night at a party, and eventually resulting in the acceptance and letting go of a relationship that is broken. The song is very confessional so it’s written in this stream of consciousness, almost in a spoken word kind of way. “Let It All Go” chronicles a full commitment to isolation. To me the song feels like this vertigo, justifying and grappling and releasing. Trying to take back your anger from before, that how someone hurt you doesn’t matter and you can move past it: “I’m so sorry I was overbearing and I’m so sorry I thought this meant something.” Eventually there’s this acceptance, you have to let go. Although removing yourself is the healthier option, you also descend into a space of isolation.
4. “I Think I’m Losing”
It’s a reflection on everything that transpired in the previous songs, filled with self-doubt and uncertainty. A lot of the EP is pointing rage inwardly and this song reaches the peak of that. An entire question of the self, am I losing who I am? Was I good to the people who love me? Was everything that happened fabricated and blown out of proportion? Are my feelings valid? Was it all my fault pushing people away? Just a real good old spiral into uncertainty, imbalance, and emptiness. At the end of the day, though, maybe you should be feeling this, maybe you need to feel like you’re losing to motivate yourself to rebuild stronger and with more love and less anger at yourself and everywhere else.
As the EP progresses my perspective continues to distort. It felt interesting to take emotions that are rooted in truth and then pushing them to the extreme and exploring that heightened feeling.
Is it too early in the year to anoint a release as the Best Reissue of 2021? Because, for my money, it’s going to be hard to beat this archival release that gathers together almost all the material released by the first—and best—incarnation of this post-punk lodestar Gang Of Four. With the band finally taking ownership of their music, the quartet and Matador Records have the chance to give it its due with this handsome box. Inside are remastered editions of the band’s first two albums-—1979’s “Entertainment” and 1981’s “Solid Gold”—as well as a collection of singles, a recording of the band putting in a typically smouldering live performance in 1980 and a cassette of demos. The set puts Gang of Four’s music and legacy in context with a booklet packed with ephemera and testimonials from the band members and their many fans while also re-aggravating the calcified wounds that they exposed through slashing and brazenly funky songs of class warfare, unfettered capitalism and rampant inequality. It’s little wonder that the half life of this era of Gang of Four was so short. No group could burn this hot and expect to survive for the long haul. This set fans those embers anew, right when we need it most.
Released earlier this year as a five-LP, one-cassette package—crammed with 1979’s Entertainment!, 1981’s Solid Gold, an album combining their self-titled and Another Day/Another Dollar EPs, the first-ever release of a two-LP live album called Live at American Indian Center1980, and a C-90 cassette tape featuring 26 unreleased demos—77-81is a luxury and pricey package that seems quite the opposite of what Gang Of Four was about. Built in the immediacy of anarchistic British punk and the socialist student politics of working class Leeds, Andy Gill, Jon King, Hugo Burnham, and Dave Allen were beyond curios. A more efficient and workman-like all-CD box designed to look plebeian, wrapped in brown paper, and finally released in August after many delays signals what might be this period’s finest and most uniquely artful one-two punch.
Along with crusty New York no wave acts of the same period such as The Contortions and Mars, whose halting rhythms were heavy and angular and whose ravaged guitars slashed into each melody, Gang of Four created an aggressive noise-scape of their own: an icy, soldiering, and sinewy punk-funk not so much on the good foot, but with its own brand of swing (drummer Burnham, bassist Allen) and teeming with caustically insightful rhetoric and curt, even brusque originality. LCD Soundsystem, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bloc Party—there is no them without Go4.
The live album from San Francisco and the demos collections are the best place to start, as, save for a peculiar cleanliness on its bottom end (smoothed, but not entirely unfractured and mussed-up, is Solid Gold), it was the crisp, accuracy of Gang of Four’s studio sound (on Entertainment!) that made them potent, poppy, and—dare I say—entertaining. Like the work of an ace sniper rather than a machine gun’s scatter, the clear shot of the syncopated “Damaged Goods,” the stuttering “Not Great Men,” the swerving “I Found That Essence Rare,” and all the hurt personal, social, and sexual politics spit forth by Jon King are powerful because they’re served cold and with a bite—an all-vodka martini sans the olive, and with a punch in the face.
Having witnessed them live at this time, the captured 1980 San Francisco gig CD—like the salty demos collection—offers versions of their frank familiars such as “At Home He’s a Tourist” somehow blunter, briefer, and at a breakneck speed to rival hardcore’s finest (no wonder why, beyond just its politics, Go4 is a prime inspiration to Fugazi). Again going back to the no wave comparison, this was skinny frenetic poli-punk without gristle or fat. Just noise and hard intent.
We wanted this video to be a depiction of the fact that acknowledging the humanity of your enemy can be the most powerful battle tactic of all. Lay down your weapon. Get Muna’s new album ‘About U’ featuring “I Know A Place” available now:
Specificity is the marker of killer pop (the matches in Pet Shop Boys’ So Hard, the shoelaces in Robyn’s Be Mine), a trope that the LA Trio Muna wield to intense effect on their second album of gothic synthpop. Saves the World is an unsparing emotional confrontation that drags you right into the bedroom bathed in pink light, the dorm room with the blunt scissors, not to mention singer Katie Gavin’s torrid self-examinations.
“Silk Chiffon feature’s Phoebe Bridgers is finally out and it feels so good. a massive thank you to every single person who helped us bring this song to life. also, to everybody who worked on this video…we’re so grateful. director Ally Pankiw who busted her ass to make this happen, Moira Morel, our fave Amber Dreadon, stylist Olivia Khoury who *hand dyed* all the Dickies we wore, Taylor James, Jake Schwartz, Christian Zollenkopf, all our sweet and patient friends in the cast who showed up and showed out for us….we love you guys. now….go fall in love with someone
MUNA signed to Phoebe Bridgers Saddest Factory Records label back in May, and now they’ve shared their first new music in over a year, a poppy track that producer and guitarist Naomi McPherson calls “a song for kids to have their first gay kiss to.” Phoebe also appears in the video, and on vocals in the song.
Saddest Factory signees Muna takes another step toward world domination with the dazzling “What IWant.” The latest single to be unveiled from their recent self-titled third album, “What I Want” is a maximalist ode to unapologetically living your truth. “I want the full effects/I want to hit it hard/I want to dance in the middle of a gay bar,” sings Muna’s Katie Gavin on the cut. With its blend of cathartic vocals and pulsating synths, “What I Want” is a sparkling anthem arriving just in time for the end of Pride Month.
Big Thief are back with another new song. This one’s called “Certainty” and the band recorded it at Sam Evian’s studio in upstate New York. It’s a gorgeous song with a little country twang, recorded directly to 4-track at Sam Evian’s Flying Cloud Studios during a three-day power outage.
The band has released a handful of new songs since 2019’s “Two Hands” and U.F.O.F. Most recently, the group shared the tracks “Little Things” and “Sparrow” Adrianne Lenker had previously played another unreleased song identified as “Simulation Swarm” on Instagram in February. Big Thief also issued the Two Hands outtake “Love in Mine” last spring as the B-side on a promo 7″. The band is currently touring the United States for the rest of the month, with Lenker embarking on her own solo tour in November and December.
From guitarist Buck Meek: “There was a big summer storm while we recorded at Sam Evian’s Flying Cloud Studios last July, and the power went out for three days. On the third day of the outage, I found Adrianne on the porch writing a new song, so I sat with her and we finished it together, with the rain falling from the gutters splashing over our guitars.. James Krivchenia and Sam saw us writing, and quickly set up a four track tape machine in the kitchen, powered by the F250 cigarette lighter out in the yard. They set up the drums by the sink, and Max plugged his bass into a bluetooth speaker set on top of the stove. Take 2 had a great bark from Sam and Hannah Cohen’s pup Jan during the solo, but we ended up going with take 3 because it took us about that long to learn the chords. Then we made pancakes and sausages and ate breakfast for dinner.”
Since the release of their debut EP in 2014, Yumi Zouma’s evolution has been brisk and organic. The band sold out their first EP twice-over before its official release and before having ever played live. Growing up together in Christchurch, New Zealand, they scattered after high school, moving to Auckland, Paris and New York, collaborating over email to create Yumi Zouma’s initial material.
The intense reception to these early tracks resulted in the group’s first band practices taking place on arena stages, as they were asked on tour by both Chet Faker and Lorde. Yumi Zouma has since released three breath taking EPs and two albums with Cascine Records, earning the hearts of a devoted fanbase and selling out venues on national and overseas tours. Each release serves as another essential chapter in the continuing Yumi Zouma storybook.
Yoncalla (LP)
The 2017 debut album by Yumi Zouma follows two well-received EPs and multiple world tours. On “Yoncalla”, the band’s effortless waves of harmony have been refined and their creative process laid bare to expose an act more unguarded and interconnected than ever before.
The group’s origins trace back to their history of playing concerts together in Christchurch However, the band did not begin writing music together until multiple members moved abroad and began collaborating over email following the events of the Christchurch eartquake This early material gained attention within the musical bloggers and encouraged American label Cascine Records to sign the band before they had played live or held a band practice.
The band quickly released their first full-length album, “Yoncalla”, the following year. As opposed to the long-distance writing of the band’s earlier releases, Yoncalla consisted of material that had been finished during tours for EP II. The majority of the album’s final material was recorded in Paris France following an American tour which stopped by the city of Yoncalla in Oregon, The band produced the album at electronic musician Phillipe Zdar’s Motorbass studio in Paris, enabling them to achieve a sound more akin to classic synth poppier than their previous records
Willowbank (LP)
For the making of Willowbank, Yumi Zouma settled on a plan to reunite for the New Zealand summer. To complete what would become their first significant work written and recorded entirely in their home country, they rented a studio in Christchurch’s semi-demolished CBD, on one of the few remaining blocks that still characterizes the city from before it was destroyed by a series of earthquakes.
When you know it’s there, the feeling of rootedness is undeniable on Willowbank. Being connected to their origins on the bottom of the earth allowed the band’s members to craft another essential chapter in the Yumi Zouma storybook.
After a year of heavy touring in support of “Yoncalla”, the band travelled home to record in New Zealand for the first time. A limited edition cover of the Oasis album “Whats The Story Morning Glory?” was distributed on vinyl in early 2017, before the release of the band’s second album, Willowbank, in October. The sessions for Willowbank marked the first time that the group had worked together in a professional studio, with the band initially questioning whether they should “all move into separate rooms” to recreate the remote song writing process from previous records. However, the sessions allowed for stronger collaboration and more organic instrumentation compared to earlier material, leading to jazz musician Olivia Campion joining the band as a live drummer. Lead single “Depths (Pt. I)” became a success on streaming platforms, and was accompanied by a video created by illustrator Frances Haszard. Following the completion of touring for “Willowbank”, Perry left the band in order to concentrate on his Serbia-based musical project DOG Power.
Yumi Zouma’s output for CascineRecords has been nothing short of prolific. In 2014, Yumi Zouma released their debut EP, and quickly followed it up in 2015 with EP II. After releasing two more albums in successive years – 2016’s “Yoncalla” and 2017’s “Willowbank” — the band bookended their series of short-form 10″ releases with 2018’s EP III. Long out-of-print, Cascine has now re-pressed each of the EPs on their original 10″ format with new vinyl colour editions.
The beloved and long out-of-print debut EP from Yumi Zouma — an understated classic since its release in 2014 — repressed for the first time on its original 10″ format and new seaglass vinyl edition. A second repress of Yumi Zouma’s debut EP. Originally released in 2014, EP represents the world’s introduction to the New Zealand dream-pop band Yumi Zouma. Though the project has since grown considerably in profile, releasing their 2020 album Truth or Consequences, their winsome allure remains. EP features early favourites from the band’s catalogue including “The Brae” and “Salka Gets Her Hopes Up.”
Tracklisting: A1. A Long Walk Home For Parted Lovers A2. Sålka Gets Her Hopes Up B1. The Brae B2. Riquelme
Yumi Zouma’s enduring and endearing second EP, newly re-pressed on its original 10″ vinyl format and new mist-coloured edition, following its original release in 2015. Originally released in 2016, EP II found the New Zealand band coming into their own as songwriters, developing their “soft-focus synth-pop” (Pitchfork) with hints of electronic piano-house pulse (“Alena”) and anthemic, movie-ready choruses (“Catastrophe”). Though the project has since grown considerably in profile (in 2020 year the band released their third full-length album Truth or Consequences), their winsome allure remains.
Tracklisting:
A1 Dodi A2 Alena A3 Catastrophie B1 Second Wave B2 Song For Zoe & Gwen
The bookend to their EP trilogy, Yumi Zouma’s“EP III” is rich with effortless atmospheres, winsome hooks and stadium-sized finishes — now repressed on its original 10″ format and new cloud-coloured vinyl edition. Since the release of their debut EP in 2014, Yumi Zouma’s evolution has been brisk and organic. In the process, they’ve won the hearts of a devoted fan base and sold out venues in the US and throughout the world. Yumi Zouma now returns with EP III, completing the trilogy they started with EPs I and EPs II.
Though the project has grown in profile, their song writing process remains the same, working across continents and timezones, with Charlie Ryder now based in London, Josh Burgess in New York, and Christie Simpson in their hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand. This new collection finds the international act stronger than ever, sculpting effortless atmospheres, winsome hooks and stadium-ready finishes.
Tracklisting:
A1. Powder Blue / Cascine Park A2. Crush (It’s Late, Just Stay) B1. Looking Over Shoulders B2. In Camera
To commemorate the re-pressing, Yumi Zouma are sharing “In Camera (Unplugged),” an alternate rework of their 2018 single recoded this winter. “‘In Camera’ was originally destined for the scrap heap” says Charlie about the original single. In 2018, as the band was pulling together the tracklist for EP III, Christie saved the demo from the cutting room floor and prompted the band to bring it back to life. The track would go on to be their most successful single across platforms and a clear fan favourite.
Re-recorded in 2020, the new stripped-back version of “In Camera” foregrounds its winsome melody with softer, organic instrumentation — piano, acoustic guitar — and culminates with a choir of voices joining on the chorus. “We wanted to record something reminiscent of The Killers’ piano-driven live sessions at Abbey Road, and bring to life the power-ballad that was secretly hiding underneath the surface,” Charlie said.
The new track and re-press news come on the heels two new releases from Yumi Zouma in 2020 — “Truth orConsequences”, and an album of alternate versions — released by our friends at Polyvinyl.
“Truth or Consequences”, Yumi Zouma’s third album and first for Polyvinyl was produced by the band and mixed by engineer Jake Aron (Solange, Grizzly Bear, Snail Mail)
Christie Simpson’s voice gives weight to whispers of impressionistic poetry, shielding hard truths with soft tones, while Burgess’ vocals reveal a rarified dimension of raw and lucid romanticism, with lead single “Right Track / Wrong Man”, in particular, exhibiting a Balearic tempo and bass-heavy energy that belies its underlying tension.
The first Yumi Zouma album to feature live drums, “Truth or Consequences” radiates a brazen spirit of perseverance.“I love the duality in a lot of disco songs, where they’re incredibly upbeat, but there’s real frustration in the lyrics – sort of like, ‘Nothing’s going the way I want, but I’ve got to deal with it any way I can,’” Simpson says.
Yumi Zouma ring in the new year with a re-press of their long out-of-print EP trilogy on their original 10″ formats. They’re commemorating the occasion by sharing a new semi-acoustic version of “In Camera.” Watch the official video, created by Josh using archival footage from 2014-2020,
A European tour is now happening March next year we’ve had to reschedule these dates from September/October this year to March 2022 – sadly due to restrictions it just wouldn’t be possible to do this tour as planned, as we’d initially hoped it might be by that time. we are so sorry to have to reschedule – but we hope you’ll come party with us across Europe when it’s safe and possible and the world is feeling a little more okay again!.
New Zealand’s Yumi Zouma are back with this brand new single. It holds special meaning to the group: “Before we went on stage for the only show we would play on our sold-out 2020 US tour, we held each other tight, and fighting back the tears, someone said ‘let’s give it hell tonight’. The next day, ‘Truth Or Consequences’ was released. We drove to New York, took some photos, and dispersed back to our homes in the US, UK, and New Zealand. We haven’t been in the same room since.
To ‘give it hell’ is one of the strongest ways to stay present. Throwing yourself entirely into something, knowing it’s all you can give – it can be equal parts rewarding and humbling. This song encapsulates us digging deep, pushing through self doubt, and being grateful for the purpose and process of making music together. Especially when it’s hard and feels futile. In the spirit of staying present, we wanted to release this song NOW, and not wait for any other moment than this one.”
Alternative pop with a soft touch. Yumi Zouma is Christie Simpson, Josh Burgess, Charlie Ryder, and Olivia Campion.
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The Fat Angel Sings 