The stream of excellent indie rock bands coming from the UK continues with Zulu Winter and their debut album "Language". It's been a stellar year for melodic British rock, with the likes of The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club and Morning Parade all releasing must-hear albums and now "Language" gets added to that list.
Zulu Winter's music has the feel of earlier Coldplay material but they mix elements of tribal music and fuse some electronic influences into their pop/rock sound as well. Vocalist Will Daunt is not averse to flying into a dreamy falsetto at a moment's notice and a lot of these tracks would have fit into one of those radio programs the alternative stations used to play back in the 90's, deep in lush modern rock tracks.
There are a boatload of songs here that scream breakout single starting with the echos of lead track "Key To My Heart". The bouncy "We Should Be Swimming" was selected as the second single from the album and it's obvious why upon first listen. There's a memorable chorus on just about every track on the album, no better exemplified by current single "Silver Tongue", just wait until it kicks in and you'll hear what I'm talking about.
My two personal favorites are "You Deserve Better", again with a killer chorus of vocal harmonies, and the chilly enchantment of "Words That I Wield". There's a cool confidence dripping from this album, there is perfectionism in the production and it's set up to give Zulu Winter a great chance at breaking through to a large audience. British radio and press have been mostly positive and the band was selected by Keane as the opening act of their 2012 tour, but as with many of these bands things are starting on a smaller scale here in the States. Here's hoping Zulu Winter find an audience Stateside, "Language" is too good of a debut to get lost in the shuffle.
"Language" was released in the U.S. June 19, 2012 on the Arts & Crafts label.
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