HANI ZAHRA

It’s been something resembling a year and half since I first came across Hani Zahra, a five-piece from Brooklyn who deal in a brand of music that defies a simple genre tag. The lead single, “Cannibal Crime (Wait Wait Wait)”, from their 2013 debut album Along Those Lines was a lot of things: psychedelic, fun, a little on edge, and streaked with just a hint of worry with its disturbing subject matter. But beyond descriptions of this Bowie-esque jaunt, it was catchy as hell. It was in my head for months after first hearing it, and in the middle of their album, it was as flagrant as it was enjoyable. “Cannibal Crime” was the easy part, though. Because it was so likeable and odd, it was an easy sell to anyone looking to enter Hani Zahra’s world. Describing the rest of their output was another task.

I’ve said it before, and i’ll say it again with emphasis: to say that describing Hani Zahra’s music is a challenge is not meant to be detrimental. In fact, it’s more the opposite; their zany, weird, and quite often unpredictable music is a delight, and as a writer, it makes for fertile land to harvest. Just because something is hard to pin down doesn’t make it bad in any way. With Hani Zahra, it plays perfectly in their favour: playing their music feels like an infinite task if you seek to analyse it. You’ll always leave with questions, thoughts, and different words to describe what you’ve heard. This was all true for Along Those Lines, and their new album, Cereal, boasts the same quality. Listening through it can reap many queries about what you just heard, whether it be identifying the instrument that passed you by, or what the lyrical content was referring to.

The Brooklyn group get into a variety of different grooves, and at first it can seem stuttering. Opening track “Beautiful Day” is very much its own creature here, and, if anything, seems like a palette cleanser of sorts. Modestly chirpy guitar follows a rumble of drums and wiggly synths before opening up to a sun-streaked feel that was present on Along Those Lines; the track would have fit on the band’s previous album, and it kind of feels like a “here’s where we last left our heroes” catch up for anyone not clued in. “Do Androids Dream?” follows with synth noises that lurk about, creating the impression that everything has just come to a halt. For a moment it seems like the band have run aground right from the start, but once the track kicks in, faith is restored. Electric guitars return to the forefront, needly and lightly funky. “Do Androids Dream?” begins the real journey the album takes the listener on, and comparisons to this being some kind of Halloween/Monster Mash music aren’t a hundred miles off.

If a direct comparison between Cereal and Along Those Lines is to be made, I suppose their new album might be considered that bit more melancholic. Indeed, the album’s centrepieces are most fitting to this description, and they form the worn down heart of Cereal. “Blue Perfume” has an insomniac finish that feels like it’s simultaneously trying to send you off to sleep and keep you awake; “Heaven Save Us” sounds like it’s striving to be as hopeful as its title suggests; and album highlight “The Swamp” is a brooding number again befitting to its title, burbling and misty like some B-movie horror movie set. When a line like “the swamp is awake/ and it thinks it’s a lake” rolls around, it’s easy to be convinced a monster of some kind is about to emerge. The lyrical content does seem that bit more concerned on heartache, too. While the words never felt solely elemental before, on Cereal, phrases like “Tell me what I gotta do to get to you” or the strangely threatening “Your majesty is you and me” stick out and add to the downcast mood.

This forlorn set of songs should be considered in the full context, though. Cereal is mostly an upbeat affair, and for any moment that sounds like it’s a surreal and lonely walk through the woods, there are two welcoming, bright tracks that make any kind of dejection seem a distance away. Track titles are misleading, if anything: “A Malaise” sounds far from ill, instead boasting a peppy rhythm section; and “Is She Gonna Come Running To Me” boasts a sweet little guitar solo that appears unabashedly, like someone beginning to sing spontaneously in a busy cafe. While there’s not anything quite as in your face and catchy as “Cannibal Crime”, there are still plenty of hooks on offer that seem to come around unexpectedly each time, despite repeated listens. “These Bloody Old Times” goes skyward in its chorus while the verses tread about in stockier and muddier terrain. “Just A Walking Gun” somehow manages to make a chorus of “I’m no manic depressive/ I’m no depressive” into something that swims about pleasantly in your head afterwards. Part of the music’s intrigue is the way they make material that would normally be cast in different, less infectious lights be just that.

In terms of relatable comparisons, the ones that applied on Along Those Lines are most defiantly still at play here. Of Montreal and David Bowie play a big part, dropping influence from each of those artist’s vast discographies. And this time round it feels like there are more easy influences to identify. “Oh My My” saunters by with a Beatles-esque jangle while the brooding guitars on “The Swamp” seem like a muffled version of Radiohead’s “Reckoner”. These moments might be brief, be it just a particular word, a passing guitar riff, or the tone of a synth, but it all makes Cereal an active listening experience. In a way the band’s music sounds kind of familiar, like you’ve heard it somewhere in a dream, or in the background at a friend’s party years ago. Indeed, trying to identify features feels like trying to pick apart and piece together memories (like trying to make an even better cereal by picking all the best bits from a number of boxes, if I might be permitted to use a simile fitting to the album’s title). Not being able to grab hold of quite the right words or feeling it evokes, but still trying with each repeated listen; it’s all part of the fun and appeal of Hani Zahra and their music. - Unrecorded

“Un sabor dulce y anacrónico”

Cualquiera apostaría por repetir la misma fórmula cuando ésta ha dado resultado. Hani Zahra alude ser una banda creativa en busca de nuevos mecanismos, y por tanto prueba un camino distinto, utiliza métodos desiguales para integrar sonidos inexplorados. El quinteto de Broklyn, que el año pasado sorprendió con “Along Those Lines” por su gran destreza hipnótica, sufre ahora una metamorfosis de la que surge su nuevo material discográfico titulado “Cereal”.

“Beautiful Day” es la pieza encargada de introducir a “Cereal”, y aunque es un tema ameno, es discreto y poco descifrable, como si se tratara de un pequeño aperitivo que deja un dudoso sabor de boca, pero que sin embargo, invita a permanecer sentado. El platillo principal se presenta a partir de “Do Androids Dream?”, tema en el que recaen todas las expectativas y que no defrauda. A partir de este momento, se revelan los sabores sonoros de cada uno los ingredientes que componen el álbum. Guitarras agudas y ligeramente distorsionadas, la deliciosa voz de Hani Zahra que sorprende adaptándose a cualquier circunstancia y distorsionándose a placer, un bajo con tonos agudos muy marcados en donde recae el peso del ritmo, y que en conjunto con el sintetizador, logran crear una atmósfera, digamos, sublime.

Las influencias de grupos que inmortalizaron la década de los 60´s, son ahora más explícitas. Si bien es cierto que, desde su anterior álbum se podía percibir la influencia del cuarteto de Liverpool, en ese entonces, era un poco atrevido hacer una comparación directa, pero ahora no hay manera de negar esta referencia, y es que en temas como “Just A Walking Gun” y “Heaven Save Us”, resulta imposible no pensar en The Beatles cuando los coros resuenan. También hay un cierto aroma a The Zombies, y a The Monkees cuando se escucha “Is She Gonna Come Running To Me”. Hay otra influencia, que cronológicamente aparecería más tarde, Joy Division, su música se encuentra inmersa en los primeros segundos de “A Malaise”, tema que ha sido elegido como primer sencillo, y que quizás, es una de las piezas mejor logradas en compañía de “Ma's In A Vaze“ y “The Swamp”.

“Blue Perfume”, es un tema delicado que aparece en el intermedio, una pieza sumamente sensible y con gran carga emocional, pero que se presenta amenazante para el equilibrio del disco, el cual logra recuperar su estabilidad con el tema que le continúa. En “Oh My My” y en “These Bloody Old Times” el temperamento vuelve a descender y esta vez la energía se percibe disminuida. No se trata de falta de calidad, simplemente es una sensación de desencaje, como si tratara de un sabor distinto al resto del platillo.

La gran virtud de “Cereal” emana de la atinada yuxtaposición entre un tiempo anacrónico y un tiempo contemporáneo, de la que deriva una mezcla homogénea que se siente original y fresca, a pesar de su añejamiento. Un sabor dulce queda en el paladar con el último bocado “My Baby's Gone”, tema apacible que ofrece una invitación a repetir la ración. - Crazy Rhythms Music

"When talking or writing about music, calling something “peculiar” initially comes off as a rather lazy adjective. It’s one of those terms that can easily get tossed about a little too much, ready and waiting to be used when something veers off into the left field a little, drawing it away from simple comparisons or exact genres. Sometimes, though, it is entirely correct; sometimes an album comes to your ears that you can’t quite put your finger on. It’s not “strange,” which is to say that it’s not offputtingly different, causing you to hold it at arm’s length, nor is it “weird” in the sense that you don’t feel obliged to spend any time with it because it’s something wrapped up in a world of its own (a world you don’t really want to be part of for any extended period of time). Hani Zahri, however, and their debut album Along Those Lines are downright peculiar." -Beats Per Minute - Rooftop Films

Hani Zahra (pictured) is definitely the quirkier artist on this bill - and we like that. On record they sound like an electro pop band with the added bonus of charismatic vocals, an element so often missing from a genre generally shy in the singing department. This being said, the band presents itself live as a quintet, so we can expect a real show. Opening track Roll Roll Roll (streaming below) is particularly fun, with a mangled plodding organ sound and cheeky vocals between Wall of Voodoo's elegant 80s melodies and the theatrical antics of an Ian Dury. - The Deli

The whole Hani Zahra record Along Those Lines is really special. - Said the Gramophone

(none) - All Back No Front

Brooklyn five-piece Hani Zahra are a fun bunch, which is something i’m assuming from just listening to their new single over and over again. “Cannibal Crime (Wait Wait Wait)” has plenty going for it, with warbling synths, infectious drums, a throbbing bass, and vocal harmonies that sounds like Kevin Barnes and David Bowie warping to some alternative universe and playing something funky together. Just try and resist joining in with the call and response vocals after a second listen.

Also, try and resist going to their album release party which will take place on April 5th at at Bowery Electric, where all attendees will receive a copy of their new album Along Those Lines which the band will release officially on April 2nd. Also, starting March 23rd, the band will release a track a day from the album, which each one being available for 24 hours before being replaced with the next one. Have a listen to “Cannibal Crime “(Wait Wait Wait)” below." - Beats Per Minute

Along Those Lines is the debut album from Brooklyn band, Hani Zahra. With only one previous EP, the band’s new material shows growth and I personally find it amazing. Their electronic/synth sounds compliment fully to the low-soothing vocals creating a peaceful environment. Tracks like Daytrip or Prizefighter are examples of how the band is starting to emerge into something great. - Crack In The Road

Hani Zahra est un groupe originaire de Brooklyn, quintette à l’énergie débordante et psychédélique. Ils viennent de dévoiler leur premier album Along Those Lines. Derrière des synthés langoureux et des sons électroniques en boucles indomptées, réside la magie et la liberté rêveuse de ce groupe singulier.

Fondé en 2012, Hani Zahra est composé de Hani Zahra (chant), de Jared Dymbort (Guitare), d’Angelica Olstad (claviers/synthés), d’Adrian Morgan (Basse) et d’Ilya Kuperman (batterie). De cette ensemble naît une pop indie délurée et atypique qui interpelle avec douceur.

Along Those Lines est faite de 11 pistes malicieuses, pérégrination douce dans un univers inconnu, où pop et rock fusionnent. Chaque écoute de leurs compositions vous emmène ailleurs, pratiquant des bonds cosmiques à l’aide de mélodies construites différemment. Hani Zahra adopte un son nostalgique qui réorchestré à l’aide de leur imagination plurielle devient puissamment évocateur et moderne, en un sens expérimental. Cultivant les sons des années 60-70′, leurs mélodies sont des puzzles dans un kaléidoscope aux couleurs et aux notes chatoyantes.

Leur esthétisme côtoie ainsi une version des Beatles et de Bowie sous acides comme sur Roll, Roll, Roll puis leur construction poétique les fait passer non loin de Tame Impala. Alors de ce mélange, on sent le doigté envoûtant de ce quintette sauvagement calme comme sur Don’t Let Me Down. Ici les arpèges de synthés alliés à des guitares douces et accompagnés de voix brumeuses, comme sur One More Taste Of Love, sont accrocheurs et capiteux.

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HANI-zAhra

Vous êtes ici : Accueil / Tracks / Rock - Pop / Hani Zahra : Along Those Lines

Rock - Pop 0 commentaires
Hani Zahra : Along Those Lines
Par Deborah Cukier @debcukier · Le 15/04/2013

Hani Zahra est un groupe originaire de Brooklyn, quintette à l’énergie débordante et psychédélique. Ils viennent de dévoiler leur premier album Along Those Lines. Derrière des synthés langoureux et des sons électroniques en boucles indomptées, réside la magie et la liberté rêveuse de ce groupe singulier.

Fondé en 2012, Hani Zahra est composé de Hani Zahra (chant), de Jared Dymbort (Guitare), d’Angelica Olstad (claviers/synthés), d’Adrian Morgan (Basse) et d’Ilya Kuperman (batterie). De cette ensemble naît une pop indie délurée et atypique qui interpelle avec douceur.

Along Those Lines est faite de 11 pistes malicieuses, pérégrination douce dans un univers inconnu, où pop et rock fusionnent. Chaque écoute de leurs compositions vous emmène ailleurs, pratiquant des bonds cosmiques à l’aide de mélodies construites différemment. Hani Zahra adopte un son nostalgique qui réorchestré à l’aide de leur imagination plurielle devient puissamment évocateur et moderne, en un sens expérimental. Cultivant les sons des années 60-70′, leurs mélodies sont des puzzles dans un kaléidoscope aux couleurs et aux notes chatoyantes.

Leur esthétisme côtoie ainsi une version des Beatles et de Bowie sous acides comme sur Roll, Roll, Roll puis leur construction poétique les fait passer non loin de Tame Impala. Alors de ce mélange, on sent le doigté envoûtant de ce quintette sauvagement calme comme sur Don’t Let Me Down. Ici les arpèges de synthés alliés à des guitares douces et accompagnés de voix brumeuses, comme sur One More Taste Of Love, sont accrocheurs et capiteux.

La dynamique des synthés enrobe celle de la voix d’Hani Zahra entamant ainsi une danse sensuelle où le langoureux est une transe comme sur l’excellent Prizefighter. Alors Cannibal Crime s’avance majestueusement, lunatique et pleine d’un humour décalé irrésistible. Leur monde s’ouvre, leur musique vous cueille et vous transperce doucement avec des refrains hypnotisants sous les rondes de synthés.

Dressed For Nothing est un autre petit sommet de savoir-faire du groupe, sur un lit d’échos qui brouillent les notes et les sens du tempo. Hani Zahra est chavirant. Sous les lignes de synthés, réside toute la beauté furieuse de ce groupe comme sur Clownfish.

Mêlant refrains chauds et cascades d’harmonies en échos souples, Hani Zahra propose des chemins autres, des versets doux, des touches harmoniques diffuses et un rythme soutenu. La torpeur de la voix d’Hani tombe sur vous tel un voile séduisant comme sur Jailbird et vous livre des effluves sonores énigmatiques.

Après leur premier EP éponyme en mai, d’où Tamed se distinguait déjà, Hani Zahra séduit encore plus avec Along Those Lines et prolonge la douceur de leur musique convaincante. Sous les synthés, l’âme céleste d’un groupe à suivre. - Pause Musicale

Norfolk native and New York transplant Hani Zahra released his debut album “Along Those Lines” now available on Spotify and Bandcamp. Click here to take a listen. - Hear Nebraska

Here is one from the homeland Brooklyn, and it sure is tasty. Delightfully placed in time somewhere between 1965 and 1987 the album is aware and intelligent. Think The Kinks meets Flock of Seagulls meets Beck and your getting somewhere close. ‘Tamed’ is the true gem on this collection, a tightly composed, psychedelia-pop track, that will surely make you smile if any of those guys previously mentioned titillate your musical soul. - Dingus

Ever wonder what music mod space zombies with big collars and feathered hair might party to? I think one band that would be at the top of the list would be Hani Zahra. Seriously. Their self titled EP (released May 2012) is delightfully peculiar. It’s peppy with a pinch of creepy and mystical with a modern synth pop retro vibe. I love it!

And the fun does not stop there because Hani Zahra recently released “Along Those Lines” (April 2013). This brilliantly bizarre mix of sound is a sweet smorgasbord of ear candy. Hints of Bowie emerge from dreamy glam-type vocals echoing a unique blend of ambient bliss. Another fantastic Hani Zahra release is the single “Cannibal Crime (Wait Wait Wait)” (March 2013). Off the bat, it reminds me of Paul McCartney mixed with Hot Chip, The Black Keys and The Monkees. I dig it and I’m not a zombie!

Based out of Brooklyn, New York, Hani Zahra is a five piece indie electronic synth pop band who know how to marry dandy melodies with hip hooks. They blend zippy vocals with synth sounds that will pop your socks off – and if you are partying, who needs socks anyway?

If you’re old enough to remember, you might hear hints of Steppenwolf, Vangelis, Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, Tim Blake, and Joe Cocker. I could list several other musical references; but you really should take a listen and hear for yourself. One thing is certain: there is definitely a huge 60s/70s inspirational pull for Hani Zahra’s musical talent.

If you are in the NYC area July 6th, Hani Zahra will be playing at Mercury Lounge – https://www.facebook.com/events/459146264173257/. Get your tickets pronto. You won’t want to miss this show!

And remember, no matter how you are dressed when you party–formal, normal or zombie–keep your eyes on this syntherrific band! Yes, I made that word up. - Indie Music Reviewer

I was listening to Jon Hillcock’s excellent All Back No Front podcast earlier today when he played a track by Brooklyn’s Hani Zahra, describing it as having “possibly the catchiest chorus [he’s] heard in years”. ‘Cannibal Corpse (Wait Wait Wait)’ definitely lives up to that hype. It’s a fuzzy, hook-laden indie pop jam that sounds a bit like the Black Lips if they were only to grow up a bit (please don’t though Black Lips, that’s why I love you), with beautiful Beach Boys-esque harmonies and wibbly-wobbly synths that make you feel like you’re stumbling drunk through a dream where you’re working for the FBI. On a cannibal crime. Wait wait wait wait!

Along Those Lines is out now on Bandcamp, Spotify and iTunes and was self-released by the band. - Can't Hear My Eyes

Sorti de nul part, en fait si de Brooklyn, mais pas encore sur le radar mondial, Hani Zahra signe une balade indie qui donne envie d’aller se perdre dans les bars de leur quartier. - La Detente Generale