Presenting OtO’s most mellow post yet, Yumi Zouma bring fresh grass, blue skies and the dream-pop world of New Zealand to their track, In Camera. Known for being Chet Faker’s and even Lorde’s opening act at a point in time, the band embraces its Oceanic influences in an incredibly atmospheric way; soft, layered vocals on a backdrop of cruising, plucky guitars that have you humming.  The beat gives you the feeling and image of those warm-toned, high saturated do-nothing days, lounging about in the sun.

Unabashedly huge Fleetwood Mac fans, the band’s retro inspiration in the track is subconsciously felt, tinged with the sensation of memory, as if you’d have heard the track before, but never quite caught the lyrics. The  production perhaps is responsible for this, the band primarily relies on virtual synthesizer emulators accompanied by light instrumentation.

The album, Willowbank, is named after a wildlife sanctuary in Christchurch, New Zealand. It’s hard to only talk about the music without connecting to the recent tragedy in Christchurch in the past week… if anything, this post is in remembrance of that peace the band members found in their hometown, and in hope that peace can be found once again.

Read more in their interview with WhattheSound here: http://www.whatthesound.com/interviews/yumi-zouma

 

And an extra track just because every time I listen to this band I fall in love just a little more. I’ve never heard a track so accurately represent a color in pure sound… powder blue.