“Slow down, it’s a science” purrs Glass Animals frontman David Bayley on Zaba’s second track, Black Mambo. The debut from this Oxford quartet is a seductive mix of genres with a tribal bent and a meticulous finish. Bayley himself may be qualified in neuroscience, but Zaba never gets swamped down in its own smarts. In fact, the lyrics are the lesser elements here, propping up the album’s real strengths – its sonic template and immaculate production. For example, the single Gooey is lyrical nonsense (‘Ride my little Pooh Bear’) but it triumphantly drips and oozes in and around alluring music and it’s a sonic collision that makes for quite the chemical reaction.
This wild clash of dub, trip hop, R&B, soul, pop and world music comes together as fluid, controlled and sensual. It sounds amazing, but it’s not a faultless debut. Zaba comes a little undone towards its ending point: the Cocoa Hooves melody is way too close to superior opening track Flip, the Morcheeba-like Jdnt is a whimper of a closer and there’s a hidden track that just isn’t worth the anticipatory wait. But the majority of the album is a big win, making for blissful headphone music that will wipe out winter blues with ease.
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
Best Track: Hazey
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Smother WILD BEASTS, An Awesome Wave ALT-J, Coexist THE XX
In A Word: Zaba-dabado
