Zanias – Unearthed (Album – Fleisch)
Genre/Influences: Techno, Techno-Pop.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: Berliner based Alison Lewis aka Zanias this year released her second full length album, which has been introduced as exploring ‘the multiplicities of human connections, written at a time when connectedness was a resource more scarce than ever before’. The work features ten songs.
Content: The songs are constantly moving in between techno- and Pop-music. It creates a sonic-hybrid with the sensual vocals of Alison Lewis on top. Most of the songs have something wafting, but you’ll also discover the harder and darker club-orientated title-track.
+ + + : You’ll rapidly notice the album is carried by a kind of conceptual approach in the choice of the titles. The sound is however hard to define, but clearly reveals an interesting approach creating this osmosis between Techno and Pop. The artist’s sensual timbre of voice injects a real hot effect to the production. The songs have been accomplished with subtle sound treatments featuring field recordings. I’ve been mainly impressed by the title-song, which has something extra, but especially the harder boost that emerges at the surface. The last track “Unbound” is also an attention grabber, reflecting an expression of pure ‘sex’.
– – – : I’m missing a true climax on most of the songs. I would have liked to hear a melody line now and then.
Conclusion: Zanias isn’t setting the world alight, but “Unearthed” has something innovative.
Best songs: “Unearthed”, “Unbound”, “Unseen”.
Rate: 7.
Artist: www.facebook.com/zoe.zanias
Label: www.facebook.com/fleischrecords
About Zanias
Zanias is the solo project of Alison Lewis, an Australian-born vocalist and label manager based in Berlin. She sang in Linea Aspera and Keluar, and co-founded the body music collective Fleisch, which also runs a record label of the same name.
Under the Zanias name she released “To The Core” in 2016 and “Into The All” in 2018, followed by “Extinction” and “Harmaline” in 2020. “Unearthed” was released on 6 September 2021 through Fleisch in digital, CD and vinyl formats.
The album “Chrysalis” followed in 2023, with Metropolis Records handling the American release, and “Ecdysis” arrived in February 2024.
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