anz - spring/summer dubs 2020

anz
spring/summer dubs 2020
2020
Soundcloud

Has anyone else felt completely out of touch with music during this pandemic? While some people have found new ways to connect and new ways to experience music the shift in experiences has been in a word jarring. You have to question your relationship to things, your relationship to everything really when the world news becomes almost the only topic of the day. Really allowing yourself a break from the trails and tribulations of our age is becoming more and more difficult. There is no longer the concert to escape to for a few hours, no more nights at bars with friends or any of those moments where we all discuss and share cultural items. Music is still being produced, maybe even more music but how that music relates to the larger world is always shifting. This new "thing" from anz however manages to snag a bit of that sweet release that has been missing for quite some time. I've written about the creative malaise that has seemed to sweep music since 2016. It's this overarching sense of dread and fear that instead of creating inspiring songs of protest and uprising has lead to more deep dives into trap. Trap was already well established as the sound of the era, but it's dark overtones feel like piling on in 2020. Chains, Money and girls seem so flippant now yet many still go back to that same well over and over. Not here, this bright electronica is always dance inspired and adds this wonderful sense of connection when you listen.

This piece just has so many surprises, twists and turns around every corner that lead you to a new and exciting moment. Because the thing is on soundcloud and not really structured like an album or mixtape it allows you to experience the whole thing almost uninterrupted. Most albums like to tell you to do this, but they rarely demand it with the actual work. anz forces you to be present for this, and it works. Her music feels like it exists in a better world, one we all have equal access too. It's one of the unifying forces of dance music, it's ability to strip the pretence that might come with one's lyrics and allow the listener to arrive at the music on their own. anz gets this and uses it to her benefit all across this record. It's a lot of music at just over an hour and a half, with more seemingly on the way for fall/winter dubs 2020. It's nice to remember that there is space for music like this, and still warmth in the hearts of people to receive it. Well I feel ready and anz is here for it.

8.6 out of 10