London-based artist AUNCE crafts a dreamy, emotive enthrallment on new track “Zoo Friend.” Nocturnal synth tones and steady rhythmic ruminations complement a stirring vocal presence, which expands from subdued intrigue into more expressive elements — like the backing vocal flourishing that emanates throughout the track’s mid-point. The second half, in particular, reminds aesthetically of the fantastic collaborations between Jessy Lanza and Caribou. A spacey synth line injects seamlessly as the haunting, wordless backing vocals flow freely, culminating in a satiating finale. “Zoo Friend” is a stirring success from start to finish.
Thematically, the release excels in exploring “deep interconnection with non-human life, and the grief that comes with witnessing its dismissal.” Artfully, the sporadic lyrical delivery — moving between wordless emotion and poetic words — feels reflective of that adoration for the natural world and its spontaneity, rather than the preconceived biases and ignorance of humanity. The track also conveys sense of grief for how frequently that interconnection with non-human life is dismissed. “At its heart, though, this is a song about those rare, magical moments when the veil lifts and something bigger seeps through — when reality shakes itself awake, and so do we,” AUNCE says.
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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
