Robyn labelmate comes up with her own kind of effervescence.
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Natasha Genet Avery: “Holy Bubbles” never stops moving. Zhala drops us straight into a driving ’80s scando-pop/’00s Eurovision soundscape (that synth in the intro is wild), but quickly scales back to a tom heartbeat hinting at where she’s headed. I love the way her airy phrases slowly intensify into confident vibrato through the verse. The song takes a tiny breath at 1:39 – just for one measure, but long enough to build some suspense – before launching into that anthem of a chorus. While many a songwriter would rinse and repeat, Zhala expands on established ideas.
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Nina Lea Oishi: It begins with the slow hum of what sounds like a space orchestra tuning up, quiet and eerie. And then it becomes an alien dance party in a space cathedral, with Zhala as the extraterrestrial Mother Superior of the whole enterprise. But despite the space-opera/Scientology vibes, “Holy Bubbles” is slightly…boring, relentlessly drumming in its high-minded galaxy church concept without doing much else.
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Ramzi Awn: The zany synths lamp-posting “Holy Bubbles” are out of place, but Zhala’s voice is not to be underestimated. A versatile dance instrument best suited for a much needed freestyle comeback.
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Alfred Soto: When she says she’s excited I believe her, especially with that phalanx of organs and sequencers and hurdy gurdys and hints of the Middle East protecting her. More exciting than her label mate has shown in years.
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Micha Cavaseno: What happens when YouTube browsing for weird Italo-tinged global pop records puts you to bed, and they echo in your skull instead of letting you dream.
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Jonathan Bogart: For someone being explicitly sold as weird and artsy, she plays it uncommonly safe musically. Strip off a couple layers of burble, and it could be trip-hop revival.
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Scott Mildenhall: Not quite as distinctive as “Prophet” – imagine this performance on your anodyne local awards show of non-choice – but equally not as easy to latch onto as it should be, because it’s nonetheless melodically weak. If only this had more of a tune, it would be firing on all cylinders.
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