New Zealand’s alternative pop band Yumi Zouma has released a new, critically acclaimed album Truth or Consequences on Inertia. Set against a vintage landscape and produced by the band and mixed by engineer Jake Aron (Solange, Grizzly Bear, Snail Mail), Truth or Consequences is a collection that embodies contemplation, duality and hard truths wrapped in soft aesthetic; a unified body of melody that connects the spaces in between. In these uncertain times, the band has found solace through revisiting happier memories. Released today, the dreamy “Lonely After” video shirks anxiety by exploring joyful memories of a time when we could explore the nature of our own backyards freely.
Guitarist Josh Burgess explains:
Nostalgia has always been a big part of Yumi Zouma and that’s mostly a result of the people we are. We all get high off of the rush that comes with remembering the intensity and ecstasy of ‘yesterday’ safe in the present. Our memories, stories, demos and each other are the only incomplete link back to the way things used to be which is magical in itself.
Now more than ever it feels like we’re all craving yesterday, skeptical of what tomorrow will bring as we patiently navigate these strange new times. For me, yesterday is very vivid. Christchurch, early February down by the Waimakariri River on the outskirts of town. The wind running off the river, through the trees, and into Christie’s hair. The midday sun stinging the skin as I entertain our friends making the video with my best Mick Jagger impression and skills of doing handstands in loafers.
These moments are precious, they suspend time so all that matters is the present.
I’m forever grateful to have the “Lonely After” video as my yesterday to get lost in. It reminds me to be present and hold everything that is dear that little bit closer in my head and my heart.
Originally formed in New Zealand, the members of Yumi Zouma now come together from around the globe: New York City (Josh Burgess – guitar, vocals), London (Charlie Ryder – guitar, bass, keys), Christchurch, New Zealand (Christie Simpson – vocals, keys) and Wellington, New Zealand (Olivia Campion – drums). Distance can also manifest metaphorically, and it’s in these figurative chasms that Truth or Consequences, Yumi Zouma’s third album and first for Polyvinyl, finds it’s narrative: romantic and platonic heartbreak, real and imagined emotional distance, disillusionment, and being out of reach.
