Oakland experimentalists abracadabra have shared new single ‘at the zoo’.
The group are part of Oakland’s dense network of DIY communities, centred on the industrial Jingletown district. Taking often complex ideas and expressing them in a direct, melodic, and open manner, abracadabra make a very magical form of devoutly alternative pop.
Experimental synths nod to early 80s pop, with everyone from Duran Duran to Yellow Magic Orchestra looming in the background. Dubbed effects and a fondness for latin percussion permeate their work, with full length album ‘shape & colors’ due to land on January 20th.
New single ‘at the zoo’ deals with the darkness of the present day, facing up to a system that doesn’t work. Somehow revelling amid the ruins, ‘at the zoo’ recalls those curious Tom Tom Club burners, but in. a devoutly 2023 context.
“It reflects our current reality: a huge mess that is systematically broken but isn’t entirely lost,” Hannah Skelton comments. “We’re inviting listeners to conjure up every drop of hope and willpower left inside them, pour that into the giant vat of anger and frustration bubbling inside us all, and with this potion collectively enact the necessary change to bring love and light into this dark space.”
Tune in now.
Photo Credit: Kristin Cofer