Neu Zhala

: Zhala
Based: Stockholm, Sweden
Listen: The ‘Prophet’ EP
Similar to: Joining an intergalactic cult in the year 3000.

Anyone vetted, and subsequently championed, by Swedish demigod Robyn is always deserving of more than a mere cursory glance. When it comes to Stockholm’s Zhala, the debut signee to Robyn’s label (Konichiwa), it’s probably better to dedicate a hefty chunk of afternoon. You’ll probably have to write it off anyway.

Described by Zhala herself as “cosmic pop”, the sounds she weaves scurry between rave-dance and ritualistic pop mayhem. ‘Slippin Around’ is riddled with the heady whoompf (technical term, that) of kick drum and rifle-shot snare cracks. Shimmering twinkles of synth and chart-bothering vocal hooks hint towards a pristine pop zenith, but the cavernous basslines beg to differ, injecting the ode with a sinister chill.

The track ‘Prophet’, with its space-age opium den propaganda video, will brainwash you into becoming a lobotomised, relentless boogie-golem, trapped in a perpetual Groundhog Day state of repetition and insomniac deliriousness. Zhala toys with pace and rhythm like a spiteful warlock, and she’s not afraid to dive headlong into an ocean of early-’00s eurodance in pursuit of her twisted sonic goals. It’s sublime.

With the oodles of clout that being linked to Robyn brings to these fragile first forays just by proxy, as well as a lauded EP and Grammis performance to boot, there’s zero doubt that Zhala’s going to cement herself as an artist you’ll need to keep one eye on at all times, lest she convert you to the Temple Of Zhala-ology on the sly.