By It’s our Bandcamp Picks of the Week, featuring zzzahara’s vibrant indie rock highlight SPIRAL YOUR WAY OUT and Miss Tess’s dry Cajun country record CHER RÊVE!
zzzahara – SPIRAL YOUR WAY OUT
Genre: Slacker Rock, Bedroom Pop
Favorite Tracks: “It Didn’t Mean Nothing,” “In Your Head,” “Head in a Wheel”
At its core, SPIRAL YOUR WAY OUT sees zzzahara freeing their emotions. The latest from the Eyedress live band member was born from the aftermath of a fractious relationship, where they forced themselves to fit the other person’s mold. Enduring prolonged inauthenticity is exhausting, and it shows on the record. While there’s no shortage of jangly tunes, a haunting sadness clouds them as if zzzahara’s anger has lost its heat from being angry for so long. After all, SPIRAL YOUR WAY OUT came together in an emotive, three month burst.
The opener, “It Didn’t Mean Nothing,” encapsulates these messy feelings best. zzzahara repeats the titular phrase to convey their resentment toward their ex, but they struggle to banish them from their head. The bouncy dream pop tune is also injected with a melody and a mantra that’ll get stuck in your head. Those are the complementary forces underpinning SPIRAL YOUR WAY OUT: zzzahara lyrically leans into the chaos of stormy situations of young adulthood but douses them in a counterbalancing sunny, relaxing sound. Lead single “In Your Head” explores picturing the one you love with somebody else, exemplified by its accusatory words: “You’re being someone you’re not.” Musically, “Bruised” and “Ghosts” are swaying indie rock tunes with carefree riffage that’ll cool anyone down. “Head in a Wheel” is where the two thematic forces truly coalesce, where zzzahara’s words on being “too detached to even feel” are contrasted by the uptempo drumbeat and vibrant, psychedelic atmosphere. For experiencing catharsis or being washed by sprawling, loose riffs, SPIRAL YOUR WAY OUT delivers on both. Check out zzzahara’s new album on Bandcamp. [Dom Lepore]
Miss Tess – CHER RÊVE
Genre: Country, Americana, Cajun Soul
Favorite Tracks: “Nobody Wins,” “Lord, I Need Somebody Bad Tonight,” “Tennessee Blues”
With the recent re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America, it’s become increasingly difficult for people to feel proud of the country. With every passing day and every “red hot” headline, it’s become more apparent that the nation is sliding down a fascistic hell hole where all but the straightest, whitest, and richest of incels are allowed to thrive. Despite this, art goes on. Music is still created and performed, and, against all belief, there are still things to be proud of. It’s still natural to feel an affinity for one’s local community, and that sense of adoration is what makes Miss Tess’s latest album, CHER RÊVE, a shot of needed relief in these stressful times.
As if it weren’t obvious from the title and opening track, her latest LP is a love affair with the Bayou State, and its nine songs run the gamut of sounds one might expect to hear in Louisiana (especially the Acadiana region). “Louisiana” acts as something of an overture for the piece, a mid tempo country ballad where Miss Tess gets to wax lyrical about the state as though it were a long departed lover. Elsewhere, we hear her tear through several country standards while putting her own distinct spin on them, most notably “Lord, I Need Somebody Bad Tonight” which sounds less like something Jeanie Seely would trudge through at the Grand Ole Opry and more like a steamy slice of southern soul (thanks in large part to Tim McFatter’s sizzling saxophone lines). The listener is treated to even stronger Cajun flavors on the likes of “Ride That Train” and “Take It Easy” which are resplendent with accordion runs (kudos to Blake Miller) and flecks of pedal steel guitar. And as if to dissuade the critics from suggesting her act is mere cosplay, she displays her bonafides by delivering two songs in French, the soothing “La Lune, C’est Un Cendrier” and the closing number “La Valse D’asteur.”
Like many a country album, one might nitpick about how haphazard the sequencing can be (the transition from “Ride That Train” to “Nobody Wins” being particularly jarring), but at the end of the day, the craft put into each track can’t be denied, and the overall commitment to representing the sounds of the region for a larger audience should be applauded. If you haven’t already, check CHER RÊVE out here! [Connor Shelton]
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