New-to-me diva Zuzu’s album Queensway Tunnel doesn’t have the pop sound that I typically seek out, however her style is so unique and honest, there was no way I couldn’t be drawn in. Zuzu is a solid singer-songwriter who can fluctuate between eternal love (“Endlessly Yours”) to storing an ex’s bones in her closet (“Never Again”) with the strum of a guitar string.
If you think Taylor Swift is angry, you haven’t heard Zuzu. Taylor might get revenge by dating an ex’s best friend but Zuzu would buy extra-long pins for the voodoo doll she made in Crotchet Club. The first rule of Crotchet Club…oops, I wasn’t supposed to talk about Crotchet Club. From moving on to better things after a breakup and throwing her phone into a river (“My Old Life”) to “crying in the falling confetti” (“Queensway Tunnel”), her drama-filled relationship songs are full of hurt with tinges of hope.
She doesn’t only sing about relationships gone bad, sometimes she elicits a laugh or two. Her unusually titled “Toaster” is a beautiful ballad where you know you’re growing old when a toaster is a score as a gift. “The Van Is Evil” is her modern day go-go dancer sounding jam with her wishing to get beamed off this self-destructive planet, with her best lyrics, “I turn it on like Barbarella, honey don’t you worry.” And that she does.
Her balladry and lyrics aren’t the only things out of this world, her rocking style has a whole new sound. The guitar-heavy riffs and special-effect warbles of “Timing” and “Lie To Myself” takes Pop-Rock to a brand new level. This sound compliments her accent which is enchanting even when throwing around English slangs I don’t understand.
I just happened to come across Zuzu while looking for new merch to buy and decided to give her album a shot since I could get an autographed copy. In my gay opinion, sometimes it’s the unexpected divas, that deliver the most surprising talents.
