Willowbank is one of the more pleasant journeys in modern music. Yumi Zouma’s glimmering indie-pop flows by like a dream, as each song melts into the next and proves that the hype surrounding them hasn’t been for nothing.
The record opens with a slick bass slide as ‘Depths (Pt. I)’ launches into the twinkling guitars, bouncing bass and Italo disco backbeat that pervades much of the record. ‘December’ has a wistful piano melody and choruses that swell like a river of faded Polaroids as ghostly voices harmonise with Christie Simpson’s heartbreakingly fragile croon. Indeed her parts are at their most intimate here, with every breathy nuance loftily articulated in the mix.
This is nowhere more evident than on ‘Carnation’, where the ample use of silence in the verses gives each vocal cord room to resonate. When the band do finally push the negative space away, it’s an intrusion measured for a delicate contrast. What’s most impressive, however, is simply that the production has finally lived up to the promise of the band’s songwriting. In their transition from sharing files on the internet, to capturing moments on tour and finally getting into the studio, Christchurch’s favourite children have lost none of their yearning worldliness.
