Zoon has shared their new EP ‘A Sterling Murmuration’ in full.
The Canadian and First Nations artist has been working on material for the EP across a number of years, with its roots stretching back over a decade. Utilising their high school friends in Winnipeg as collaborators, they draw strength from community, something integral to the project as a whole.
Now online in full, ‘A Sterling Murmation’ is a gorgeous display of dream pop, tapping into shades of Cocteau Twins and Slowdive while also offering something personal and revelatory. As Zoon explains, the name of the project “comes from the movement that a flock of birds do for safety from predators. They use this technique for other reasons such as warmth at night, also to exchange information about feeding areas.”
“I feel very connected to this concept,” Zoon continues. “I see it in humans and how we need a strong community to protect each other. Isolation played a role in this body of work and is supposed to display the danger in isolating. While in this state we set ourselves up to be in harms way by outside forces but breaking out and embracing humility and community you can finally transcend into a healthy trajectory.”
Lyrically, Zoon is unflinching. Take focus song ‘Play Ground’ – amid its gauzy effects, the lyrics discuss loss, and closure, with the songwriter returning to his hometown to view it with fresh eyes.
Zoon says: “I saw both decay and a dying civilization clinging to rebuilding a crumbling empire… but also beauty. All of these thoughts sent me into my first panic attack and forever changed my life. To channel these newfound emotions I decided to write ‘Play Ground’. I wanted to keep the song simple, just like how it was back in those days.”
Tune in now.
Photo credit: Cassandra Popescu