Following one of the most traumatic years of her life, Alison Lewis is back as ZANIAS to present more of her emotional catharsis to music.
The first fruit of labours is the excellent ‘Simulation’ which is a bittersweet ode to the Australian’s adopted home of Berlin where she “landed here at twenty-three”.
“This city is a fable, nowhere else to go. This city has enabled us all and it’s breaking my soul” she sighs. But as her vulnerable soul is bared, she counters with the view that “in a world so f*cking awry, let’s talk about our favourite ways to get high…”
From the forthcoming album ‘Chrysalis’, out soon on Lewis’ own Fleisch Records, ‘Simulation’ itself while is typically introspective and moody in that ZANIAS vein with a hauntingly contralto vocal. However it is also eminently danceable and occasionally sparkles instrumentally in a manner that is more akin to Lewis’ other project LINEA ASPERA with Ryan Ambridge.
All these contrasting feelings are captured on the superb visual accompaniment directed by Janis Reichert who was found by ZANIAS live bandmate Laura Bailey aka NEU-ROMANCER on an Italo party boat!
Accurately capturing the feeling expressed that “In a broken reality, everything’s shattering”, the eerie slo-mo effect was achieved by all concerned filming to ‘Simulation’ being speeded up to 138BPM. The end result captures a joyful escapist euphoria with the rave angels at the Untertage club cast as extras.
Alison Lewis has said she has made more music in a single period that any other time of her life and as well as the ‘Chrysalis’ album, there will be ZANIAS live dates which will include Europe, the UK and Canada. “I have soooo much to share” she said on her social media, “this is just the beginning…”
‘Simulation’ is available as a digital single on the usual online platforms and direct from https://zanias.bandcamp.com/
ZANIAS 2023 UK live dates include:
Southampton 1865 (14th February), Liverpool Quarry (15th February), Glasgow Ivory Blacks (16th February), Manchester Rebellion Club (18th February), London Lexington (19th February), London Camden Assembly Hall (17th March) – further information on these and other shows at https://swampbooking.com/zanias/
https://www.facebook.com/zoe.zanias/
https://www.instagram.com/zoe_zanias/
https://www.patreon.com/zanias
Text by Chi Ming Lai
16th January 2023
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