Hailing from New Zealand but now spread across three continents, Yumi Zouma are no stranger to the strenuousness nature of long-distance songwriting. Their latest single—the bubbly and sensuous “Bruise”—was created as a farewell to friend and band-member Sam Perry with a Nelly Furtado tune very much in mind.
Christie Simpson, Yumi’s soft-voiced singer, channels Furtado in coy allure—her delicate hums twirling themselves around the song’s groovy guitars and crunching percussion. The single is a bit of a pivotal piece for the band, marking not only goodbye to their band-mate but also the conclusion of their trilogy of EPs with Cascine. But if “Bruise” is anything to go by, it’s clear Yumi Zouma have relinquished any plans to remain “that dream-pop” band from New Zealand—and the quartet has both the talent and the ambition to not remain so easily pigeon-holed for long.
| “On “EP III”, we were literally finishing tracks the day before they had to be turned in and uploaded. This helped us to realize that we could release our next songs in a more direct way, and put “Bruise” out independently. The origins of “Bruise” were steeped in loss, but the track has become a beacon of optimism for us. We started writing the instrumental after our great friend Sam told us he was leaving the band and moving to Serbia. We were all distraught until Josh said, “Cheer me up guys – let’s write a song for Nelly Furtado”. Nelly never replied but we came up with a smash.” |
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