ALBUM REVIEW: Zulu – A New Tomorrow


 

Fifteen unfinished chapters don’t combine to make a novel.

A New Tomorrow, the debut long-player from eclectic power-violence outfit Zulu (released via Flatspot Records), feels too much like a compendium of skeletal songs that largely fail to take off to truly work. Three of the first four tracks – the exception being the introductory ‘Africa,’ a piano and strings-infused number – start off heavy and emphatic, but they all conclude with a divergence. ‘For Sista Humphrey’ turns gospel; ‘Our Day Is Now’ descends into sound clips; and ‘Music To Driveby’ is marred by soft singing.

 

The issue isn’t the use of any of these methods. It’s the formulaic nature of them, to the point that it becomes infuriatingly predictable, and the near half-hour-long record lacks cohesion. It doesn’t feel purposeful or even on the same page.

 

When harsh, Zulu is on point. The vocals bring a bite to the album, the most striking example being ‘From Tha Gods To Earth,’ but that too inevitably mellows out, and across the release, the dangled carrot never seems to come to pass. Bursts of aggression and a breakdown fuels ‘Lyfe Az A Shorty Shun B So Ruff,’ but a recording soon takes over and washes away any hopes of the bombast continuing. ‘Shine Eternally’ is delivered as a soundtrack for a montage of couples enjoying a romantic dinner. It’s well put together, stylistically, but unfortunately nothing more. Then there’s rapping over coffee shop music (‘We’re More Than This’).

 

A wealth of musical influences invigorate and infiltrate A New Tomorrow, however, Zulu doesn’t bring together the fifteen songs in a united, communal way, which instead results in a jumbled collection of, at times, seemingly unrelated material.

 

Buy the album here:

https://flatspotrecords.com/

6 / 10

MATT COOK