Sometimes you hear an album and it almost makes you mad
because it’s so good and so well done. That’s how I feel about Zoo Animal’s
Departure. I just listen to it and think…How???
Holly Newsom is the driving force behind Zoo Animal and this
album really lays out there how awesome she is at what she does. Her voice is
so clear with so much vulnerability and yet so much strength. Her guitar
playing, though it may first appear like simple chord progressions in these
songs, has an intricate delicateness to it that just makes you sink into the
song.
It’s a short album, with 7 songs coming in around 20 minutes,
and it’s kind of nice because it’s so easy then to just start it over and continue
on the journey some more.
And then there’s Zoo Animal as a live band, something you
have to see to truly understand. There aren’t many people who can walk on stage
and immediately command a room, but Holly can. Even with the quiet songs that
fill Departure, she still manages to pull you in when it’s just her and her
electric guitar on stage. She has a one of kind deal about her. It’s truly
great to watch.
You can listen to Departure, along with other albums, at their Bandcamp page found HERE.
