Much has been written about the phenomenon of (usually British) singers losing their accent and in some cases, adopting an American one. I’d wager many of you sound very different singing along to different singers – we try and imitate what we enjoy. If you like American music, it follows that you might sing with a slight American accent.
It’s that that makes the delightfully raw Scouse tones of Zuzu so jarring. Made On Earth By Humans is ridiculously polished yet chillingly candid; it’s like listening to somebody’s diary pages, but you’re sure they wanted somebody to find it. “Mom, I wanna be a beauty queen” cries Zuzu, during the aptly named Beauty Queen; something so simple, so innocent; it’s jarring, but oh so good. It’s indie-rock at its purest, and in my eyes, its absolute best.
“I can’t sing, and I can’t dance”, lies Zuzu. It’s an unerring modesty that echoes through the music, as though she thinks she can’t be this good. Beauty Queen explodes with a soaring chorus out of the musings of a teenage girl. It’s an enjoyable wander down a path through the brain of nerdy girl and her time ‘locked up in [her] bedroom’; yet there’s a feeling that it’s not all okay. That Scouse accent is on show, too; you can almost hear her clear her throat is she chokes through the word ‘naked’.
Not as much as in the gloriously mellow All Good, where every word is somehow simultaneously stressed and left to hang. It’s a kooky track, atmospheric yet homely, warm yet cold, far out yet close to home. The kick-in of the drum in the chorus is ridiculously satisfying, and the chorus is as catchy as a chorus can be with three words. And yet, the second verse is weirdly cold. It shows the darker side of Zuzu’s lyricism, the idea that falling in love ‘without drugs’ is so alien to her – the song acts as a mask to those feelings and in that, it’s damn smart. ‘I’m all good’ she muses, but you’re never sure that it’s true.
Seabed is classic indie-pop with Zuzu’s signature vocals. It’s a desperate song, capturing a feeling of wanting to be with someone because you’re scared to not be with them. On the surface it’s joyful, a classical love song, but it’s so hauntingly painful. Zuzu’s voice is perfect for this, expressing that pain but in an uplifting tone. ‘You ask my opinion; you don’t care what it is’ she laments, yet it’s impossible not to scream along. In fact, the whole album has a feeling of ‘yeah things ain’t great, but listen to my guitar and we’ll sing it better’ and Seabed is the perfect microcosm of that.
The final track on the EP is an acoustic version of Beauty Queen, a delightful pallet cleanser. The original is pretty raw anyway, but this is just Zuzu and her guitar singing the melancholy away.
Zuzu has carved herself a delightful niche with this EP, and her uniquely expressive vocals and ear for a pop hook in an otherwise heart-wrenching poem will take her incredibly far. As debut EPs go, this is damn good. Every song on it is a unique journey, a wander down a different avenue in her brain – and every step is enjoyable.
9/10
Ridiculously sing-a-long-able, stupendously raw yet somewhat polished and with a musical and lyrical depth that keeps you coming back for more.
Alternative Current 