New Zealand quarter Yumi Zouma may now be divided between three different continents, but that hasn’t slowed their rollout of what is arguably their most cohesive music to date. After the release of 2022’s Present Tense, they sounded wholly refreshed on their energetic debut single for Nettwerk Music Group last month, with the new follow-up track “Blister” doubling down on the snappy percussion and futuristic take on pop-rock.
Ironically, on “Blister,” that sense of futurism is largely derived from the past, tapping into recent pop trends of invoking a Y2K aesthetic for the song’s breezy charm. “We found strength in simplicity, discovering that the more stripped-down we went, the more forceful the impact became,” the group shares. “‘Blister’ surged ahead on the back of our most anthemic riffs, conjuring images in our minds of C4, Channel Z, prepaid flip-phone text plans, and the Big Day Out main stage under the punishing heat of the hole in the ozone layer.”
Naturally, the music video features a mix of modern cellphone technology, aughts album covers, and various other nostalgic imagery conjured by the song’s musical palette. Check it out below.
