Indie electronica and the art of staying weird
I just got passed this genre-bending track from an artist called Yazata (a word that roughly means “divinity” and comes from Zoroastrianism — a religion of antiquity that is still practised today). It has elements of jazz, soul, reggea, indie, electronic. Even as I write that description it sounds like I’m describing something experimental, but the result is more tightly produced than that. It’s different… good different. It is music that is hard to categorize, but in the best possible way.
“So-called ‘weird’ artists have been consistently instrumental in redefining what our perception of popular music is,” explains Yazata when talking about his process and what inspires him to make music. “From the Grateful Dead to the Sex Pistols and Spiral Tribe, it takes courage to be experimental. But weird is not a synonym for bad. If it were, generation-defining sounds like Acid Rock, Punk and Rave would not have captured the public imagination in the way that they did, and continue to do. But I make this music because I enjoy it.”
Why else would we make music (or any other art for that matter)? I think by taking this path outside more established genres, and without restricting oneself to the mainstream, something interesting and beautiful will always emerge. That is certainly the case with Yazata’s new single: “Electric.” There’s a hazy, almost dubbed-out quality to the production. Vocals drift between focus and abstraction… instrumentation flickers between organic warmth and digital manipulation. It’s that push-pull that gives the track its soulful but slightly unmoored character. You get the sense of someone meticulously crafting each layer, then deliberately letting it blur at the edges.
“Electric” is the first in a series of releases, building up to an album towards the end of the year. I’m told that each release promises to be quite eclectic… which is kind of what I’m all about when it comes to good music.
Yazata – Electric
