Glass Animals - Zaba

Glass Animals
Zaba
3 June 2014
Wolf Tone/Harvest

4 stars out of 5

 

Oxford trip-hoppers Glass Animals present their debut LP, Zaba, for your consideration. What? You thought trip-hop was long dead? Well, of course it is, but unlike many of the taggers-along during the genre’s heyday almost twenty years ago (Sneaker Pimps, anyone?), Glass Animals have the talent to make it on their own, outside of the sheltering umbrella of a trendy movement. Besides, ain’t no turntable scratching to be found here, so why even bother with the trip-hop label in the first place?

Glass Animals have far more in common with contemporaries like The xx or James Blake than they do with genre pioneers Portishead or Luke Vibert, though they don’t follow the same minimalist path to the heart of soul music as The xx. Tracks like “Black Mambo” and “Walla Walla” are filled to the brim with embellishment and detail. But rather than feel mired down with over-production, the music derives extra power and energy from the full arrangements. Album highlight “Toes” is a seductively playful romp through the R&B classic era of the ‘60s, but trading in the horns and guitars for grinding, ambient noise-filled synths. The slinky “Cocoa Hooves” is as close to mainstream R&B as it gets here, although musically this is one weird-ass track and would likely never receive much airplay on Top 40 radio because of it.

Zaba is a very impressive debut. And let’s discard the trip-hop label, shall we? Can’t we just call this whole movement—from How to Dress Well to SOHN to James Blake to The xx—a long-overdue second wave of blue-eyed soul? Regardless of what it ends up being filed under in the annals of history, this is some good shit, and you’d be well-advised to check it out.

reviewed by Richard Krueger