Review Summary: hyperU
don't read any of my stupid words. Zorza is from Toronto (uh?) she has your new favourite plastic (uh!), and her latest EP
Hyperdream is a meticulously produced set of earworms that play as hard, kitsch and bubbly as though Mother Nature had stuffed herself with the world's most fertile cluster of emphatically-2D rainbows and promptly given birth to an entire mini-universe of Good Vibes (HUH!). The selling point is good ol' trance (with a fair measure of net-addled nu trance to boot): get through the heartattack of an opener "Hyperdream", which sees Zorza ride out the final ripples of yesteryear's hyperpop wave with weapons-grade pep, and you'll find that the remaining tracks stick hard and fast to fouring-on-the-floorers at irresponsible BPMs and slicing hooks. These are underpinned by a spacious, deceptively economical approach to production that evokes the atmospheric mastery of the almighty Doss (tune into those breathy vocalises that ground "Ashes 2 Dust" from the edge of its periphery in, or the subtlety with which "Endlessly"'s ambient chord progression steers its momentum despite being trampled into the mix by one of the EP's most insistent beats). There
is nuance and craft here if you choose to sniff for it, but both are overwhelmingly channelled towards a brand of gratification so brain-neutralisingly instantaneous that the fragile, unsustainable excesses of trance itself sound like the world's most timeless institution – if only because, for a few precious minutes, the entire scope of human history's poxy confines seem to extend no further than the margins of Zorza's pulsating sugar bubble. She is everything and it feels great. Is this enough? Dopamine is no substitute for earnest critique, and the only way the enlightened consumer can ultimately feel good about themselves is by saying no to mindless self-indulgence, especially the kind purpose-crafted to ruin their attention span …kkuhhuh. Get that shit out of your head – get
everything out of your head, kick back, be the best version of your perky airheaded self, inhabit your zaniest daydreams, and above all,
