SISTRA

STONEFRENGE: Black in Space by ZOOLOOK

ZOLOOK’s latest album is a roughly 40-minute-long trip of the most succulent triphop, dub, and lounge pieces to grace my ears in recent years. A balanced collection of superbly produced tunes that ooze with a chill and confident charisma from every beat and subbass line.

ZOOLOOK is based in San Francisco and is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work in the visual realms of film, design, and animation are matched with his amazing ear for creating the smoothest and most melodic and vibey dub tracks. A producer and a multi-instrumentalist who plays keys and bass, ZOOLOOK’s music is wholly homegrown and watered with his love and affection, through and through. His latest album, titled ‘STONEFRENGE: Black in Space’ is a truly encapsulating listen. The pieces are atmospheric, filled with a delightful array of instruments, richly produced and written, with ample melodies and soul stirring progressions. STONEFRENGE is more than your average dub listen; it is a twisting, soothing, dynamic, melodic, and entrancing one.

ZOOLOOK does not find any difficulty crafting an impeccable mood with his selection of consistently juicy grooves, vocal samples, melodically lush chord progressions, and terrific basslines. From the first cut on the record, ZOOLOOK is laying down all the foundations of dub with ‘Soul Rebel’. A soulful started that starts with a terrific, Massive Attack-inspired bassline, settling on it a while before unleashing the entrancing chords. A gorgeous start. ‘Lo-Fi IRIE Feeling’ is one of the album’s most directly melodic and stirring pieces. From its delicately blended samples, bouncy bass, and generally more sparse feeling, it is one of the album’s more serene stops.

‘Black in Space’ features the album’s first hard-hitting beat. A deep groove and an exotic sounding melody on top, all channeling Bonobo’s groovier works, but with a trademark ZOOLOOK flair in its arrangement of synth melodies, vocal samples, and chords. ‘We Come in Peace (And Love)’ features one of the album’s tightest rhythm sections. A fantastic beat and an astonishing bass line right alongside make this piece one of the record’s most rhythmically enchanting cuts. After a succulent space dub intermission on ‘HAL-LE’, a piece featuring one more terrific groove, this time more electrified and hypnotic than tight and groovy, ZOOLOOK hits us with the album’s only vocal song, ‘Rockers’. With its soulful brass, wahwah’d guitars, and distinctive Japanese shamisen, it is one the album’s more mystifying blends, just as warmly executed.

ZOOLOOK’s STONEFRENGE is a fantastic display of this artist’s astonishing array of skills. Currently busy preparing an animated clip for each of the album’s pieces, ZOOLOOK’s creativity is astounding, and his musical taste is exceedingly rich. Balanced production and well-defined mixes make for one cohesive, delightful listen, from head to toe.