Zulu Winter - Never Leave

‘Never Leave’ begins life as a whirlwind of inter-galactic synths and spacey sounds. It would be an understandable error to initially mistake it for a masterful re-working of the Doctor Who theme tune. And if that alone isn’t an exciting enough prospect to reel you in, the deal gets even sweeter. When Daunt’s seductive vocals come in, slinking coolly alongside a propulsive beat and some urgent background chanting, it becomes apparent that this is a band that draws influences from more than just the cult favourites.

Countless bands cite ‘the greats’ as their inspiration. Think about it, if you got a quid every time The Beatles or Bowie were nodded to, you would doubtless be rolling in cash. Zulu Winter would leave you penniless. We are, after all, talking about a band that featured exiled nun and pianist Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou (try saying that after a few drinks) on their last mixtape. Zulu Winter are tricky to define by their influences alone, and in our modern age where people rant on about ‘The Death Of Musical Originality™’, this is a lovely optimistic breath of fresh air.

‘Never Leave’ is like White Lies if they cheered up a lot, donned exotically styled outfits and injected their pounding goth-pop with slightly avant-garde tribal enthusiasm. Let’s face it, that’s a hell of a lot more interesting than yet another carbon-copy rock n’ roll revival band.