ZOE.LEELA: Queendom Come
Free Release Friday
ZOE.LEELA: Queendom Come
2010, Rec72
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Rating: 5.0
Dance music. Yes, and not just any dance music, German dance music. And what’s to say that hasn’t already been said by an American about their European counterparts? Nothing. Which begs the question, why dig this mine any deeper?
ZOE.LEELA is an emerging voice in the German dance music scene, and she plays that part conservatively. She has an amazing single on this EP, “Destroy She Says,” a lively, catchy dance tune that would feel at home in any dance music collection. Its fierce, yet textbook, rhythmic guitar hook keeps the tune straddling the great dance music chasm that separates annoying and brilliant. And on this track, ZOE.LEELA seems to aspire to reach the brilliant side of the chasm, using textbook 90s dance vocals and a simple, understated hook that plays for your attention. But this is the sole highlight on this EP. ZOE.LEELA’s textbook approach to dance music reveals she plays her archetype too close to the hip.
Throughout the EP’s six tracks, ZOE.LEELA’s breathy vocals play against cheap keyboard hooks which seem to mimic the texture and aggression of Dubstep, but fall completely short. Using ZOE.LEELA’s voice as the centerpiece is the principle mistake. The singer’s vocals are too shallow to reveal any real soul and lack the range needed to carry a clear hook. The result is that the mix of the record loses the record between the rhythm and the hook feeling like one huge murky grey track. This may have seemed to work on tracks like C+C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),” but Martha Walsh’s vocals carry the competing hook on that track due to their range and clarity, something that ZOE.LEELA clearly cannot mimic.
The stylistic choices on the record seem relatively dated as well, with songs like “Bridges” lost in some kind of Paula Abdul-era synth style, while tracks like “Silence” almost feels like some Annie Lennox solo track. The result seems conflicted stylistically, and the performance lacking any standout moments. The reason feels like the stylistic lines that ZOE.LEELA is trying to draw seem too direct. There are moments where her producers are trying to add texture to these melodies, but the choice to stay stylistically close to her influences makes the record feel labored.
Mp3s and Cover Art via Rec72