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After listening to experimental music for a number of years, it becomes very rare to come across something which truly sounds new to you; many bands considered "avant-garde” are really just re-iterating semi-formed conventions (or as deep as conventions can be in such a genre), so Zorras came to me as a real breath of fresh, seaside air.

The Scotland based act describe themselves as "Poetry-music weirdness fusion. With megaphones”, and that is honestly the best way to describe them. The main composition of their music is very quirky, sharp spoken poetry over percussion box or guitar accompaniment. The delightful stanzas heard come from Sandra Alland's side of the duo. She is a published poet and you can really see why; all the material put on show is very slick, dipping into racism, lesbianism, national identity and human interaction, but always keeping a light and very funny tone.

Y. Josephine makes up the second half of Zorras, and beautifully so. She contributes basic but rhythmic guitar lines alongside very impressive percussion box work, but she really shines in her sung sections, where her very powerful and expressive voice is given free roam, adding even more variation to the wild contrasts between their songs – which is definitely not a bad thing due to the many talents and ideas at their disposal.

The highlight of the album for me is in the final track "Mind Games” featuring very interesting abstract poetry and hilarious vocal performances from both members. Makes me laugh every time I hear it.

Despite all of the praise which I have given Zorras, they are definitely not a band that everyone will enjoy; even fans of other experimental music, but due to the gargantuan amounts of intelligence and fresh ideas present on the release, I recommend at least giving it a listen to broaden your horizons and hopefully find something you consider truly special.

Simon Brand

TRACKLIST: 01 - Nest 02 - In The Details 1 03 - If 04 - Here's To Wang 05 - In The Details 2 06 - El Pilon/Alla 07 - After Going Out 08 - In The Details 3 09 - Flow/Growing Older 10 - In The Details 4 & 5 11 - After The Phone Call 12 - Head Games
CONTACT: sandra@blissfultimes.ca