Ground Control Touring

Originally formed in New Zealand, the members of Yumi Zouma are a creative force who now come together from around the globe. Currently based between New York City, London and Wellington, the band’s new single KPR is streaming everywhere now.

“All four of us are New Zealanders, but we live between NZ, the US, and the UK, which makes it difficult to spend time physically together. This was a particular challenge during the pandemic, which made the creation of our last album “Present Tense” a fully remote process. However, last year, we played over 70 shows in 13 countries, including one show and 24 hours in Japan - a fleeting glimpse which planted a seed that Tokyo could be a good middle point for us to meet again to write and record one day” says Yumi Zouma.

“And so, it transpired - over three weeks in April and May, we wrote and recorded at Studio Mech, a studio based in the quiet neighbourhood of Yutenji, south of Shibuya. Working in a different environment without the pressures of being on tour was a new experience, while the mix of routine and residency brought us all closer together. The sessions also sparked new creative conversations - this was the first time Olivia had been able to join the group for each step of making a record, and the proximity of organic instruments in the studio for sharing ideas meant that songs primarily became established on the guitars and pianos around us, instead of software instruments shared wirelessly between our laptops at home”.

“The result is our fourth EP, and ninth Yumi Zouma record overall - a fuller, more natural-sounding collection of recordings crammed full of cascading piano lines, pummelling drums, chorused gang vocal takes, and waves of distorted guitars. Particularly inspired by the sounds of 90’s noise, shoegaze, and midwestern emo, these new songs push the band’s signature dream pop sheen to new extremes, exemplified by the bursts of screeching feedback and spoken word on lead single “KPR”, and the overdriven screams in the bridge of the anthemic “be okay”. There are even surprises during the record’s more classic Yumi Zouma moments, such as the naked, intimate vocals in the coda to “Kicking Up Daisies”, and Olivia’s joyous shout of “whoo!” before the piano-led second verse of the alt-folk-leaning “Desert Mile”.

The tracks were mixed by Kenny Gilmore (Weyes Blood, Julia Holter, Chris Cohen), Jake Aron (Grizzly Bear, Snail Mail, Solange), Tom Healy (The Chills, Tiny Ruins, Marlon Williams) and Simon Gooding (Fazerdaze, Neil Finn, Dua Lipa), while mastering was handled by Antoine Chabert (Daft Punk, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Christine & The Queens). According to Josh, “the time we spent together writing and recording this EP will forever be one of my most cherished memories”, while Charlie firmly states that the EP “is the best music we have ever released, without a shadow of a doubt - it feels like a very dramatic update to the world of who we are as a band”.

As announced by Christie halfway through the EP’s second track, “the songs don’t sound the same”. Welcome to the new era of Yumi Zouma!