Remember when we introduced Zola Blood and gnashed our teeth a little about the fact that this new band had presented themselves as another one of those boring faceless acts? Well, we have news. They’re human and have real faces - although frustratingly two of them have been partially blurred out in the publicity photo we’ve been supplied with. We can only assume that this is because those particular individuals are horrendously ugly and a bit embarrassed by that fact. Or maybe they’re moonlighting from another band and don’t want their secret to get out? Now that would be a good reason to be a mystery band wouldn’t it? So if you’re in a group and have someone called Matt on vocals and guitar, Ed on synth, Sam on drums or a Rob on guitar, and hang around in the Hackney Wick area of London be warned, they might be two timing you.
After grabbing the attention of a good part of the blogosphere’s attention with Grace, Zola Blood return with not just faces but a second song, the title track to their forthcoming EP out via Pond Life. Meridian marries chilled indie rock dynamics with a soft electronic sound reminding us a little of first album Delphic; although whilst Delphic drew some comparisons to New Order, it wouldn’t surprise us if Zola Blood grab a few Radiohead comparisons. Meridian is one of those slightly floaty electronic pop songs that in less able hands would just drift away without ever being noticed, but Zola Blood do an excellent job of keeping the whole thing contained and well structured.
Zola Blood play their first live show on the 9th October at the Shacklewell Arms in London.
Footnote : Doesn't the one on the right look a bit like Yannis from Foals? It's not him two timing is it and they've obscured the wrong face by mistake?
Zola Blood - Meridian
Alas Zola Blood is not some weird side project between Zola Jesus and Royal Blood (although that would be interesting) but instead the work of……
Ah hold on. It’s another one of those ‘mysterious’ and ‘intrigue’ acts that (as we’ve argued before) are pretty damn boring when it comes to being a fan, because ultimately fandom is about a lot more than just the music. It’s why fans buy t-shirts from the band, dress like their idols and like to know as much as they can possibly find out about the artist. Of course we’re not advocating that artists should give every ounce of their soul away but to build a long lasting relationship you need more than just a good song. Rant over.
Of course Zola Blood could really be called Zola Blood. It might not be a ‘project’ at all. After all we’ve already had Zola Budd, the South African barefoot athlete who gained British citizenship and competed in the 1984 Olympic games where she famously collided with other pre-race favourite Mary Decker-Slaney (see at the five minute point here if you have no idea what we're talking about)
But enough of this Zola related waffle. For now you’ll just have to accept that nobody really knows anything about Zola Blood (even the promo pic reveals zilch) but at least you’ve enjoyed some sporting history.
The debut song is called Grace and it’s a piece of squelchy pop with a vocal that sounds vaguely familiar (we blame Active Child and Bon Iver for getting all these men singing as if someone had their balls in a vice), and reminds us a little of bands like Seasfire and Worship who we blogged in the past, but with less guitars and more electronics. However, to get to the crux of it, irrespective of who Zola Blood is Grace is a magnificent debut track, the sort of music we’d imagine they play on the moon. Now all we need is more....both songs and information.
Zola Blood - Grace
