Yumi Zouma release fourth single, Where The Light Used To Lay, in the lead up to their forthcoming album Present Tense.
Where The Light Used To Lay is quintessentially Yumi Zouma; it’s bright, dreamy, and incredibly clean.
Christie Simpson’s vocal performance is airy and effortless as usual, delivering a lyrical palette that’s poetically wistful and resonantly bittersweet.
Josh Burgess (guitar, bass guitar, vocals and keyboards) said that Where The Light Used To Lay “eventually revealed itself as a bittersweet song about the agony of detangling your life as you break up and the enticing future, clarity, and lightness that the end of the tunnel can offer.”
Early references to “more of the same” illicit a relatable sense of monotony and dissatisfaction within a relationship. Whilst the single is clearly a breakup song, Where The Light Used To Lay refuses melancholy. It is defiant, bright and bold.
Yumi Zouma’s soundscapes echo this defiance and optimism. Simpson’s vocals, infused with space and delicate reverb, and the chorus’ simple guitar work reflect a definitively dream-pop sensibility. Where The Light Used To Lay is, however, far cleaner and sparser than the genre’s earlier exponents. This reflects a modern take on dream-pop which leaves you floating rather than face down on the bed.
Subtle strings and acoustic guitars in the second verse feign a momentary sorrowfulness which dissipates quickly, with a cleverly subtle ‘fuck you’, in “Cause the way you hate is still a blessing.”
Both pre-chorus and chorus are infectiously catchy and driving whilst maintaining a characteristically tasteful restraint. This allows the sweetness of Simpson’s vocals to shine through with the sense of subtlety and charm we’ve come to expect from Yumi Zouma.
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Yumi Zouma’s fourth studio album, Present Tense, is due on March 18 and will be swiftly supported with a string of tour dates throughout the UK, Europe and US.
