Uncovering Where The Light Used to Lay: Yumi Zouma & The Present Tense
By Lydia Aga
For Yumi Zouma, home transcends physical space, and through memories and melodies, the Christchurch collective never leaves home.
“The Brae,” a musical homage to the street they once lived on from their earlier self-titled EP, repackages the roofs they once lived under into a sleek bassline and delicate vocals. Through nostalgic vignettes that transcend the present, Yumi Zouma intimately embraces what once was amidst distance and displacement following the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake that devastated their hometown.
Present Tense, the New Zealand band’s fourth album, graduates from the airy vocals and wistful, dreamy synths that once defined the Yumi Zouma sound as the group renavigated a world we’re all still trying to make sense of.
“After three albums and three EPs with songs that were more oriented towards dream-pop, we wanted to be more direct because we’re living in a time that didn’t feel so dreamy anymore,” Josh Burgess (he/him) explained.
For Yumi Zouma, life has been their biggest influence when crafting Present Tense. Christie Simpson (she/her) and Josh Burgess (he/him) recount their own recent breakups as a source of inspiration when constructing what Josh would describe as a “cool listening experience.”
“All the songs on the album sort of gained new relevance as we were going through different situations. It’s like I’m singing the words now and then I realize when I’m singing it’s almost a premonition. That, for me, provides a sense of comfort and I hope that cathartic feeling of being understood is what listeners take away from the album,” Christie expressed.
Distance never seemed to pose a threat to Yumi Zouma’s creative process. Endless email chains glued the group together when the members relocated across different pockets of the world. Making music remotely was purely routine for Yumi Zouma, resulting in the neverending “tangential collages” that inevitably became Yoncalla, Willowbank, Truth or Consequences, and several other projects.
“Yumi Zouma’s process [of making music] is less of a puzzle and more of a collage really. With a puzzle, the pieces are already there for you, but our process aims to inspire each other by taking bits and pieces of what’s been passed around in order to take songs to places you wouldn’t imagine,” Josh elaborated.
Between impending Covid-19 lockdowns and the cancellation of their North American tour following the release of Truth or Consequences, the group was able to experiment musically without the constraint of time.
“It was the first time we had nothing on the horizon. With all that extra time, we were able to experiment and definitely get bolder. We had Olivia play drums the whole time whilst Christie was more upfront with the vocals. The pacing of this album is much faster as well,” Josh stated.
“In The Eyes Of Our Love,” the infectiously upbeat single from Present Tense, is surely a testament to Yumi Zouma’s musical maturation. The heart of the single lies in the hands of drummer Olivia Campion (she/her) - who pulses life into the song despite Simpson’s lyrics that capture the fear of loss against a backdrop of torture and insurrection.
Directed by Alex Ross Perry, the music video’s dystopian aesthetic and complex love story set during the Nixon administration is ambitious, yet nonetheless has allowed Yumi Zouma to experiment with visuals in their storytelling process.
“A visual element alongside the music is a nice way to marry the two mediums together,” Josh replied, “We’re interested in worldbuilding whether that be the actual construction of the album or artwork as well. It allows for us to really immerse ourselves in our art.”
Present Tense plays to the group’s synth-pop strengths whilst incorporating guitar textures, layered vocals, live drumming, and saxophone accents in addition to Simpson’s accentuated melodies. The Kiwi quartet was able to channel the “less perfect” in order to create a sound that resonates on a more intimate level.
“I’d say the songs off this album are boisterous and definitely the album as a whole is fiery if I had to describe it,”, Charlie Ryder (he/him) answered.
Present Tense is out now on Polyvinyl and streaming currently on Spotify.