Zam Ram - Domino
- 1Zam Ram Theme
- 2In Between Lovers
- 3Time Killing Killing Time
- 4It Feels Like Hell
- 5You Lied
- 6Glass Woman
- 7Looks Through The Crystal Eye
- 8Consider The Rose
- 9The Spell
- 10Dream To Me
- 11Kassandra Komplex
- 12She Ran Against The Moon
UTU008
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Open edition
Domino is the debut album from London/Paris based duo Zam Ram (Jessica Zammit and Raudie McLeod). Initiated in 2020 and developed through to 2022, Zam Ram’s approach is a reappropriation of extant musical genres stereotypically dealing with sentiment. Gleaning stylistic elements from hip hop and house adjacents; trip hop, acid house, r’n’b, and blanketed with a wavey haze, the album explores the depths of Zammit’s heartfelt penmanship plundered from personal diaries and notebooks while supported by McLeod’s richly contrasted and emotive production technique.
The album’s prevailing telos is ultimately the experience of the decay of eros. There is no question that eros is in dire straits. Desire is produced by soulless corporations, love is commodified through algorithmic technicity, romance is destroyed by transparency. Zammit’s methodology is one of discipline, attempting to ground herself in restraint and not indulgence, or at the most, a sensual flirtation with the act. Close but far, at an arm’s length, Zammit’s lyrics lament the loss of eros and repudiate modern conditions of romance.
The sonic aesthetic—which sits somewhere between neo-trip-hop, 2000s R&B, acid house and downtempo—is due to Mcleod’s motley mix of recording techniques. Computer generated LFO affected sine waves roll below 1970s funk break samples. Electric guitar with lead affected interference and digital Nord Drum percussion provide grit against the occasional devotional string arrangement. This amalgam of disparate studio recording decisions delivers a tactile and textural listening experience.
Domino is call to honour the Otherness of eros. A rejection of market driven love and desire. A longing for a reality that honours the mystery of romance. How are we to reach pneuma when our desires and senses are constantly dulled by their immediate fulfilment? Zam Ram prefer to revel in the shadows of the implicit, for in the shadows, true meaning is derived.
credits
released March 31, 2023
Lyrics and vocals by Jessica Zammit
Writing and production by Raudie McLeod
Arrangement by Jessica Zammit and Raudie McLeod
Mastering by Carsten Dämbkes
Photography by Joshua Hourigan
Lighting by Aaron Potter
Makeup by Meg McConville
Costume & Wardrobe by Orson Thomas and Den Villar
Set Assistance by Ami Morris
Album notes by Raudie McLeod
Recorded in Australia 2020-22
Released by Super Utu 2022
This album was recorded on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.
The album’s prevailing telos is ultimately the experience of the decay of eros. There is no question that eros is in dire straits. Desire is produced by soulless corporations, love is commodified through algorithmic technicity, romance is destroyed by transparency. Zammit’s methodology is one of discipline, attempting to ground herself in restraint and not indulgence, or at the most, a sensual flirtation with the act. Close but far, at an arm’s length, Zammit’s lyrics lament the loss of eros and repudiate modern conditions of romance.
The sonic aesthetic—which sits somewhere between neo-trip-hop, 2000s R&B, acid house and downtempo—is due to Mcleod’s motley mix of recording techniques. Computer generated LFO affected sine waves roll below 1970s funk break samples. Electric guitar with lead affected interference and digital Nord Drum percussion provide grit against the occasional devotional string arrangement. This amalgam of disparate studio recording decisions delivers a tactile and textural listening experience.
Domino is call to honour the Otherness of eros. A rejection of market driven love and desire. A longing for a reality that honours the mystery of romance. How are we to reach pneuma when our desires and senses are constantly dulled by their immediate fulfilment? Zam Ram prefer to revel in the shadows of the implicit, for in the shadows, true meaning is derived.
credits
released March 31, 2023
Lyrics and vocals by Jessica Zammit
Writing and production by Raudie McLeod
Arrangement by Jessica Zammit and Raudie McLeod
Mastering by Carsten Dämbkes
Photography by Joshua Hourigan
Lighting by Aaron Potter
Makeup by Meg McConville
Costume & Wardrobe by Orson Thomas and Den Villar
Set Assistance by Ami Morris
Album notes by Raudie McLeod
Recorded in Australia 2020-22
Released by Super Utu 2022
This album was recorded on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.
