Artist: Zoot Woman
Title: Star Climbing
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 29th August 2014
Label: Embassy One/Warner
Album Review
Once hailed as pioneers in electronic music and forerunners of the so called Electroclash scene, the UK’s ZOOT WOMAN return with ‘Star Climbing’, and to an already much changed musical landscape. That Stuart Price has used his time producing big names like THE KILLERS and MADONNA may very well show in the slick, crisp sound of the album, but there’s little stardust here as he returns to the day-job. And creating a scene (and to be honest how long do these fickle, slippery sub-genres normally last?) can often leave a band in a self-imposed vacuum when things move on and they are left holding the flag as yesterday’s men.
It’s not all bad news. ‘Silhouette’ playfully skips around an infectious piano and synth refrain, the dreamy vocals and relentless optimism marking this out as the feel-good hit of the late-summer. Equally successful is the adult pop charm of ‘Nothing In The World’ and on the jittery R&B tinged ‘The Stars Are Bright’. But there’s a nagging feeling that something is always holding these songs back. Not a deliberate restraint, more a lack of invention and willingness to push the boundaries. Take opener ‘Don’t Tear Yourself Apart’ for example. It’s pretty enough, breathy vocals and swells of synth, but you spend so long waiting for something to happen that it’s suddenly over having delivered a great deal of not very much. In truth it’s bland. ‘Chemistry’ also needs a kick up the arse, its limp wrist and thin melody simply annoying after a time, and ‘Real Real Love’ has all the passion of a wet trout, flapping feebly for a life it doesn’t seem to want anymore. There simply aren’t enough killer hooks here, what is needed is a big chorus or two, some meat on the reedy synth bones, and perhaps a guest vocalist to break the monotony of the half whispered singing.
‘Lifeline’ will have you drowning in your coffee cup, so boring and flaccid is its existence, although ‘Elusive’ that follows it, is a shuffling instrumental that nicely breaks things up. And the lazy swing of last track ‘Waterfall Into The Fire’ uses a robotic voice to convey a sad and hazy come-down, and it works well. Pity it fades away, as if it just can’t bring itself to invent a suitable ending. And on the whole, that’s the problem with this album. It sounds half-done, fragments pieced together and dressed to fool, flashes of fun and frivolity and odd lines of decent melody lost amongst the ‘this will do’ finish of the whole. There’s nothing much here to warrant a repeated listen, and ZOOT WOMAN, you suspect, will have to evolve in an entirely new direction if the project is to have any point from here on in. Complacency is always transparent.
Tracklist
01. Don’t Tear Yourself Apart
02. Silhouette
03. Coming Up For Air
04. Nothing In The World
05. Rock n Roll Symphony
06. Chemistry
07. The Stars Are Bright
08. Real Real Love
09. Lifeline
10. Elusive
11. Waterfall Into The Fire
Line-up
Adam Blake
Johnny Blake
Stuart Price
Website
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ZOOT-WOMAN/13445524748 / http://www.zootwoman.com/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 4
Sound: 8
Total: 6 / 10
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