Getting your hopes up can be a fool’s errand. Wishing on something you know deep down isn’t going to come about, like thinking the hottest girl in high school will ditch the dreamboat to go out with your geeky self just because she smiled when you held the door for her, or when an ant thinks he can to do something way beyond his limited capabilities, or that this week was going to be your week on the lottery because everything else had gone so badly this week it just had to be right? Or… well, you get the picture. Getting your hopes hope often leads to disappointment.
But not always.
The blog world went a little doolaly recently when New Zealand friends, Charlie, Kim and Josh released a new track to the world as Yumi Zouma. The track was “The Brae” and the response was universally positive. At the time we hadn’t heard it, but it was released on Cascine – a label renowned for its consistently high quality releases, and a lot of people whose opinion we trusted thought it was amazing. So with hopes high their debut EP was bought and our fingers were crossed there would be no crushing sense of disappointment.
There wasn’t.
It is fantastic, as is the newly released second track from it, “Sålka Gets Her Hopes Up”, which is a soft synthy world of light funk grooves and smooth pop vibes over programmed beats with a chilled out 80’s vibe. Like sipping a tall glass of something refreshing and intoxicating, beads of condensation running down the side and onto your fingers as the sun beats down on a cloudless afternoon sat out on the deck of your lakeside cabin. A boat drifts by and the passengers wave casually as you kick off your shoes and put your feet up. This is the life, and what a gorgeous soundtrack for it as well.
Yumi Zouma’s debut EP is out 11 February via Cascine. The limited edition 10” vinyl is sold out but you can still order the digital album here.
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