“The point about melody and beat and lyric is that they exist to engage you in a very particular way. They want to occupy your attention.” – Brian Eno
Anyone who has had the good fortune of wrapping his or her ears around Yumi Zouma’s sparkling melodies, buoyant percussion and contemplative musings knows that the band’s daydream-inducing musical formula doesn’t just occupy your attention, it commands it and keeps you coming back for more.
Originally formed in Christchurch, New Zealand and comprised of Christie Simpson (vocals, keyboards), Josh Burgess (guitar, bass guitar, vocals, keyboards), Charlie Ryder (guitar, bass guitar, keyboards), and Olivia Campion (drums), Yumi Zouma have earned a devout following on the strength of their first two albums, Yoncalla (2016) and Willowbank (2017). Described by Albumism’s Liz Itkowsky as “relentlessly charming” and “undeniably listenable” in her review, the latter effort was deservedly included in our list of 2017’s finest albums, not to mention my personal top five of the year.
Yumi Zouma’s new album ‘Truth or Consequences’ is available now | Buy
In the ensuing two-and-a-half years since Willowbank arrived to widespread critical applause, the band has experienced its fair share of change, most notably with the departure of guitarist Sam Perry and their transition to a new record label, Polyvinyl. But despite these adjustments, and as evidenced across the entirety of their superb new album Truth or Consequences, the quartet’s proven penchant for crafting instantly memorable songs that burrow in your mind, tug at your heartstrings and soothe your soul has never been more thrillingly intact.
As she and her bandmates prepare for the arrival of Truth or Consequences this Friday, March 13th and their forthcoming US tour that kicks off March 12th in Washington, D.C., Simpson generously took the time to connect with me to discuss the making of the album, the keys to the group’s creative camaraderie, and more.
Back in 2017, I cited Willowbank as one of my five favorite albums of the year. I love that album and still listen to it on the regular. And I’m happy to share that upon spending some quality time with Truth or Consequences this past week, all of my hopes and expectations for it have been exceeded. It’s a fantastic record. And I’m curious how the band’s approach to making the new album was different (or similar) than the last time ‘round?
Thank you! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it. Truth or Consequences came from more of a dedicated and present place. We all set aside time to start working on it together, where none of us had our day jobs or normal life dilemmas to distract us from working on music. It was definitely much more collaborative and we started from scratch on a lot more songs on this album than we had with albums previous—and then later in the process we had Olivia add drums remotely, from a studio in New Zealand.
A lot was similar though. We still write lyrics in the same way, very collaboratively, changing words and sentences from each other’s paragraphs very readily! I would say that this album feels a lot bigger and more dramatic than our previous releases though.
The band is quite spread out geographically, between New Zealand, England and the US. How did all of you manage that distance when it came to writing and recording the album?
These days we’re lucky enough to get together for touring every now and again, so we usually dedicate some time before or after a tour to work on new material. For this album, we started with a week in a friend’s studio in LA to write and refine and get the ideas down, and then Josh and I both made a special trip to London (where Charlie lives) to record vocals in two different studios there. It was a long way to fly from New Zealand just to record vocals, but I remember it snowed and it was quite magical and I had a really lovely time—completely worth it!
We then sent Olivia the tracks and had her go to a studio in Wellington with an engineer friend and track live drums over the songs we’d worked on. So the distance was really only a factor in the part she played, but we still made it work!
Can you discuss the inspiration behind the album’s title?
It’s the name of a small town in New Mexico, and I guess we liked that continuity of albums having place names. But also it felt quite apt in the current state of the world, a nice bold statement, a bit of drama. There’s a nice absoluteness to the thought that one must tell the truth or eventually face the consequences, and there are a lot of songs on the album about situations that reflect that, in a roundabout way.
A thematic thread underpinning the songs on the new album is the restlessness of early adulthood, particularly when it comes to the relationships that one encounters as she or he tries to find purpose and pleasure in life. It’s a universal theme that many can relate to, but to what extent have your and your bandmates’ own experiences informed these songs?
I’d say our collective experiences have informed these songs pretty strongly and you’re right about that restlessness! Personally, I’ve struggled with that restlessness a lot in my early twenties so far and like you say, the relationships that you have in your early twenties definitely have the tendency to occupy a very large slice of your brain and your psyche. I’m still figuring it out.
I’d say my bandmates have it a little more figured out than I do (I’m the youngest). But no one ever really figures it out, right? And that’s kind of what this album is about.
On “Truer Than Ever,” you confide that you’re “a sucker for the spin of time.” Can you talk more about why this is the case?
I think this is probably one of those lines where the words just sounded nice together. But being a sucker for the spin of time is definitely something I identify with. It’s that feeling when you see an old photo of yourself from a year, two years ago and think back on how good life seemed then, how much happier you seemed to be. And somehow you don’t question it, even if—when you think hard enough—you know life wasn’t really any better than it is now.
Nostalgia is definitely a liar, but I think I have it worse than most! Time has a tendency to put a positive spin on pretty much anything, and I fall for it very hard.
What has the transition to Polyvinyl been like for you and your bandmates?
We’ve absolutely loved it so far, the Polyvinyl team are so lovely to work with. We’re hoping that 2020 will be a big year for us and we feel really lucky to have them working so hard to help make that dream come true. That being said, we owe so much to our angels at (our former label) Cascine and all the hard work they put into Yumi Zouma until this point—especially when we were starting out—and we do miss them a lot.
In between album releases, the band remains quite active and productive, putting out singles and EPs periodically. Is this a calculated move on your part to stay top of mind for listeners or is it simply a matter of the muse moving you to create new music on a regular basis?
I think it’s always been our desire to have new music out all the time—just because we really like working on music and don’t like having long periods when we aren’t working on anything. Josh and Charlie are especially like this, and I’m lucky enough that they’re always giving me the push to work on their new material—otherwise I’m sure it would be a much slower and gradual process. We are somewhat impatient in that sense, but I think it probably works in our favor! We would hate to be forgotten! [Laughs]
The band’s lush melodies never cease to give me—and I suspect many others—goosebumps each time I hear them. How much work goes into refining your arrangements to make them sound so effortlessly lovely? Or does this simply come naturally to all of you at this point in your career playing and recording together?
That is such a compliment, thank you! I think we’ve all been writing melodies for so long now that it does start to flow quite naturally. But sometimes we’ll take a scratch melody from somewhere, maybe that was even recorded for a different part, and cut it up and move it around to create something new and better from it. Charlie is the master at this.
As for all the arrangement and production and layering of all of the elements (not just vocals), Josh and Charlie put so many hours into working and reworking all the instrumentation, adding bits and pieces until it feels like the song is sounding somewhat complete. I really am lucky to work with them. For example, I record vocals to an early version of a song, and then maybe three months later, wake up to an iMessage with this beautiful new arrangement of it. It really is one of the most exciting moments ever.
You’re hitting the road here in the states in March in support of the album’s release. What can audiences expect to experience at your live shows?
We’ve ramped it up a little this time. We had a neon sign made that we’ll be debuting, as well as some fun new lights. We’ll be playing a bunch of songs from the new album alongside the faves from previous releases. I’ll be wearing some beautiful pieces on stage designed by Eliza Perry, a friend and an amazing designer, so keep an eye out for some white, floaty, dreamy moments. It’s going to be lots of fun.
OK, last question. In the spirit of Albumism, what are your FIVE favorite albums of all time?
Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, boygenius by boygenius, Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen, Depression Cherry by Beach House, and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel.
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