Review Summary: "I am the earth, you are the stars, we are the universe."
Yumi Zouma – a band that has largely been associated with dream pop until now – evolved their sound to feature a more alt-rock tinge on
No Love Lost to Kindness. The production is crisp and nearly flawless from start-to-finish, and the vocal performance from lead singer Christie Simpson is a consistent highlight. Despite the overall high level of musicianship on the album, there are times when the momentum stumbles. Be that as it may, there are no outright bad songs on the album, and it’s an overall pleasure to listen to.
No Love Lost to Kindness hits the ground running and immediately pulls you in.
Cross My Heart and Hope to Die opens with an easygoing, breezy guitar melody before evolving into a surprisingly catchy, toe-tapping chorus. It’s also one of the many songs on the album to feature backing vocals from Josh Burgess; his vocals blend seamlessly with Simpson’s in a satisfying way that helps elevate each song he’s featured on.
Bashville on the Sugar and
Blister are both up-tempo and catchy as hell, and feel much more like traditional indie pop songs compared to the others on the album.
From the midsection of
No Love Lost to Kindness onward, the album’s quality becomes a bit more inconsistent, but thankfully nowhere near enough to sour the listening experience as a whole.
Phoebe’s Song,
Did You See Her?, and
95 are slower in tempo and feature more stripped down instrumentals. While all three songs are without a doubt pleasant to listen to, they’re unfortunately not as memorable as the album’s more up-tempo tracks. What keeps me from accusing
No Love Lost to Kindness of being front-loaded is the fact that two of the album’s best songs –
Chicago 2am and
Judgement Day – are featured in the second half of the record. The former is easily the best mid/slow tempo song on the album, featuring a gorgeous vocal melody in its chorus, and the latter is a showstopper from start to finish.
Judgement Day is Yumi Zouma at their absolute best; its earworm chorus has a vintage, 80's-inspired sound to it, with Simpson providing one of her best performances on the album. The song culminates in a high-energy, climactic conclusion with fuzzy guitars and distorted vocals.
Unfortunately, after
Judgement Day reaches its end, the remainder of
No Love Lost to Kindness (which features two of the aforementioned less-than-memorable songs) lacks the spark of earlier tracks. While
False Embrace is a decent song and easily the highlight of the album’s final third, it’s not at the same level as the rest of
No Love Lost to Kindness’s highlights. And, sadly, the album ends in a somewhat boring whimper with
Waiting For the Cards to Fall. Despite its inconsistencies,
No Love Lost to Kindness is an easy recommendation for fans of anything indie; I believe there is something for everybody to love on the album. Yumi Zouma’s first major foray into alternative rock territory is a successful one, and I hope the band continues to explore the sound on future releases.
4 out of 5
