One Track Mind

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ZAZA is the duo of Danny Taylor and Jennifer Fraser, two left coasters who sought refuge in Brooklyn’s vibrant music scene. Interestingly enough, both have connections to bands who have little to no relation to ZAZA’s washed-out atmospherics: Taylor is pals with indie-pop buzz band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart while Fraser has spent time with The Warlocks. Their debut as ZAZA, the Cameo EP, was released this past Tuesday.

When listening to “Sooner or Later,” it’s tempting to dutifully point toward the standard guideposts for any band whose work is dreamy and spacious–Cocteau Twins, early Lush, et al–but in this case, those bands are more of a red herring. For starters, this song’s percussive approach has as much to do with the shoegazers’ cavernous drums as it does the minimalist landscapes of ambient producers. The rhythm here doesn’t fall into either camp; if anything, it has more to do with the arid Southwestern amble of a band like Calexico. Melodically, “Sooner or Later” is haunted by echoed vocal loops and keyboards which have been processed beyond recognition into tidal occurrences. Taylor’s vocals stand apart from the mix in surprisingly clarity, not buggered around with via a run through the distortion pedals. This approach helps gives the song definition instead of having all of the disparate elements awash in a murky mishmash of reverb and delay.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve kept coming back to ZAZA’s “Sooner or Later,” wondering whether it had the strength to hold court on One Track Mind for a day. It’s a tough call with slower, longer tracks, which suffer an innate disadvantage compared to their more exuberant brethren. However, this song is so beautiful and possesses such phenomenal character, it would be a shame to deprive anyone of a listen.