21 hours Ago
bitter experience collide, zzzahara's Spiral Your Way Out feels just right. It's not perfect, but that's the point. It's solid and relatable, and packed with enough rawness and honesty to make what it has to say stick.
zzzahara's journey to this point has been anything but ordinary. Their synth-heavy 2022 debut, Liminal Spaces, delved into their experiences growing up in Highland Park— an unflinching exploration of identity, transitions and coping mechanisms, set against the backdrop of a changing neighbourhood. 2023's guitar-driven Tender slowed things down, blending shoegaze, indie, and emo genres, to focus more on themselves and emotional vulnerability.
Now, with Spiral Your Way Out, zzzahara takes another path, channeling frustration and anger into something bolder: "I decided to just let myself go," they say. "I think I finally came to this acceptance that I don't have to be perfect." That acceptance is in every track, fuelling something altogether more fiery and assuredly direct.
The record wastes no time making this intention clear. Opener 'It Didn't Mean Nothing' is a jagged, jangly ruckus. Guitars scrape and spark like exposed wires as zzzahara's voice cuts through the noise with urgency, regret and frustration.
zzzahara's endearing candour feels like it's barely holding itself together, which only makes...
Trev Elkin.
