What is it about a plugged arpeggio washed in effects that can be so thoughtfully gripping? It’s essential a halfway yard stick to dream pop greatness. Cocteau Twins loved doing it, working like a base layer letting Elizabeth Fraser’s voice run away, sounding like it had emerged from through the clouds and preceded by trumpets. She wasn’t even saying anything. Didn’t need to. Anyway, working very much in a similar arpeggio-based dream-pop tradition where exceptional vocals are the main draw is Malena Zavala.
And just like that leading example, Zavala’s musicality is far from simplistic. The singer clearly has a range of influences from R&B to washy psychedelia, which translates perfectly to live performances well worth a YouTube deep dive. Zavala’s at the centre, commanding both intimate performances—including an affecting rendition of slowcore number Moon Song from 2018 debut Aliso—to a full band Latin grooved space-rock bop En La Noche at Green Man Festival, armed with a wonderfully reverbed ice-green Fender. It’s uncertain whether the sound of a large band or a ‘bedroom setup’ would make up third record If This Life Could Start Again, and it hinges on the latter, breaking out of insular and claustrophobic feelings to reach mountain tops––a thematic visual metaphor linking to Zavala’s Argentinian roots.
Fittingly, there’s Lost In The Depths Of The Andes, emphatically opening with the line “someone call a doctor, I think that I’m going to die”. Not that you feel that’s where it’s going from Zavala’s soothing balm of a voice, quickly pivoting from tenderness to an underlying darkness. Its double tracked vocals do a great job creating noir-like mystery, but also showcasing her range, and those complementary production choices work all over the record. Opener Only Thing That’s Right clashes her Jessica Pratt-style ‘singing from far away’ vocals against drums that sound like a broken kid’s toy, before swerving into loose neo-soul.
There’s also a certain whimsy to Veins Of The Parana’s “da da daaa” final moments, which forms strangely naturally after the verses’ onomatopoeic near rap-like delivery. Such melody lines keep you guessing all the way up to A Different Path where extended run-on sentences catch your ears off guard, just another example of Zavala lulling the listener into a false sense of security before committing some instrumental swerves. Veins Of The Parana also drops a murky shuffle at one point, and Save Me From Me’s feeling of sinking underwater descends into skittering drums and a big riff seemingly recorded in an aquarium tank. It may be hard from reading this that many of these cuts barely exceed the three minute mark: but the multiple elements get packed delicately, not forcibly, into their cohesive wholes.
All the described experimentation going on also belies Zavala’s ability to concoct a pop masterwork. Don’t Know What You’re Saying is the closest to a catchy number here, and it’s an utter bop––every verse and chorus line perfectly in its right place to burrow into your brain, as was evident on non-album track Saw You Coming. Next to the thumping, slightly sinister and danceable moments, there’s a couple of instances where tracks get lost in the mix. But when her foundational vocal performances get drawn further toward uncharted ideas, as on most of If This Life Could Start Again, it shows a songwriter with creativity in abundance, ready to turn dream-pop styles into all-new beguiling forms.
For fans of: Uma, ML Buch, Nilüfer Yanya
‘If This Life Could Start Again’ by Malena Zavala is released on 30th January on Paraná Records.
Words by Elliot Burr
