This is the remix of Zulu Winter's track 'We Should Be Swimming' by Rain Dogs. Zulu Winter have been at SXSW this year (along with 1,001 other bands) and after a quick bit of fun searching with their SEO-friendly, highly Googleable name, found that they were The Guardian's new band of the day on 11th October 2011. You know that episode of The Simpsons where Homer wants to be an inventor and makes that chart on his wall comparing himself with Thomas Edison? It's just like me and that bloody new band of the day blog on The Guardian.
Anyway, this remix is pretty nice. Flowing with an urban sensibility and the swagger that comes naturally with the dubstep beat, the song echoes with expansive synths and ghostly vocals above this epileptic, percussive little synth part. It's only till just over halfway through that we hear the 'original' vocals, heard nearly naked with just the beat swaying next to it. Then there's the occasional sub bass, used well and only at certain times. It's got a rich, clever sound - one that is ultimately more chill than thrill.
And now for the original.
It's pretty nice indie-pop-dance. They sound like a southern (being from London) Wild Beasts, somewhat anyway, with a few more electronic tricks added into the mix - like this ambient wave that just rises up throughout the song. There's something a little bit Foals about them too - not necessarily in the sound, a little bit in the sound, but more in the way the dynamic is brought to the listener's ears: guitar rushes up in surges and clashes with cymbals and that electronic tide that rises up with it.
The lyrics are pretty nice too (and was what, aside from the beat, made me compare them to Wild Beasts). In the first half of the song, before everything becomes loud and refraining, the lyrics are much more audible, clearer and varied. Lyrical acrobatics, little images here and there; they're nice words. To what 'We Should Be Swimming' refers eludes me though.
Zulu Winter's debut album Language is released on 14th May 2012 (Play It Again Sam Recordings).
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• Zulu Winter's blog
• Their SoundCloud
• Here is their Facebook page
• ... official site
• And follow them on Twitter if you like
• And this is Rain Dog's SoundCloud
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