Landslide –  Zialand (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Music can’t help but be anything other than the sum total of the artists creative past and the more mercurial and wide ranging that is, the more likely the end result is something unique and ploughing a singular furrow. Zialand’s musical make up reads like a strange contemporary fantasy novel, a backstory penned by the likes of Neil Gaimen or Terry Gilliam. A diet of Chicago classics and west coast cool from a young age, growing up in Greenland and Norway, a gospel choir, piano lessons, an LA story, an Australian rebirth and collaborations with British post-punk producer and legend John Fryer.

But that was then and this is now and now is all about an album under her own name, Unbridled and Ablaze, which will be out in spring and a first single, Landslide, as an initial calling card. Given the myriad musical threads which run through her DNA, Landslide blends some familiar sounds, sultry electro-pop, sensuous R&B and perfectly measured soul vibes, it’s just that it is woven together in a seamless and singular way. It is smooth, dark and delicious, brilliantly understated and expertly delivered.

If you are worried about where pop music goes next beyond the identikit cloning that the industry serves up, where soul music heads now, to shake off the chart usurpers who claim to be re-inventing it for the good of all, then look no further than Zialand’s inspired first single and brace yourself for the album to follow. 2018 is looking pretty interesting already!

For all things Zialand list the website HERE