On her first-ever all English album, Karen Zoid has delivered what is unquestionably the recording of her career.
That a current release outstrips all others is a claim frequently made by artists the world over but one listen to ‘Postmodern World’ supports the assertion that this is a landmark album for one of the country’s most adored performers: the recording is a world-class showcase for Zoid’s at times astonishing breadth of gifts, providing a platform for her beautifully resonant voice, her virtually peerless songwriting skills and her ability to broaden her musical approach without altering her style drastically.
In fact Zoid was always on track to release an all-English album. As she says, “Actually my first album, Poles Apart, was always meant to be an English album but towards the end of recording it my Dad suggested that I put a few Afrikaans songs on, which I did.”
That combination of her home language of Afrikaans with English (“You grow up Afrikaans in an urban environment and you learn to speak English pretty fast,” Zoid says) set the tone for Zoid’s next two recordings – 2003’s ‘Chasing The Sun’ and 2005’s ‘Media’. This trio of recordings allowed Zoid to impact the South African music scene with real force – occupying a terrain that, up to today, holds few competitors. The fact is that since she first cleaved onto the music scene in 2001 as a solo artist, following several years of busking and even a stint in an all-girl punk band, Zoid has managed that tricky feat of earning critical acclaim for her work while becoming a crowd-puller with a strong fanbase.
That Zoid is ready to move her career onto a broader footing says a great deal about her confidence as an artist. “I’m positive that my existing fans will find much to love on the new album and I’m also pretty sure that new fans will discover me through the songs on it,” Zoid explains, adding that she plans to release an all-Afrikaans album as her next studio project.
Pressed as to the creative spark for her latest work, Zoid says that ‘Postmodern World’ was inspired by an exhibition held by an artist friend of hers, Jacques Coetzer. “It was titled ‘Alt Pop’ and all the works were a direct commentary on the post-modern era that we live in now – it really got me thinking about the fact that we live in a world where everything is possible but nothing is certain and there is just too much choice.” That theme drives the album’s title song, a quite terrific tune that provides a thought-provoking insight into the craziness of “this broken planet”.
As the song reveals, lyrically ‘Postmodern World’ sees Zoid follow a narrative thread through all the songs. “The songs all tell a story, that then fit together with my feeling about the post-modern world as well as what I have been going through on a personal level in the past two years since I released an album.”
Zoid has always been known for her commentary on the roles men and women play in society – and first single, ‘Aeroplane Jane’ continues this thread. “The song is about a woman who is boarding a plane to go on a business trip – something that you seldom saw say 20 years ago but that is commonplace now. This businesswoman is going crazy with boredom on the plane and she notices every little thing that is taking place around her.” Musically, the first single is upbeat and full of zest. “This is my first album in two years and I wanted to come back with a really fun song,” Zoid says.
In fact, ‘Aeroplane Jane’ is more pop than rock, giving an immediate indication that Zoid is fully prepared to engage with a diverse set of musical references in this, her fourth studio recording. In executing the musical aesthetics that populate ‘Postmodern World’, Zoid called on a several different producers to assist her on working on the album.
Theo Crous, an old friend, added his imitable rock touch to Zoid’s “rock song for my son,” ‘Mamma’s Gonna Sort You Out’. Floors Oosthuizen handled production on ‘Aeroplane Jane’ and ‘Silverbird’ and Matthys Maree was on board for ‘Pseudonym’ as well as ‘You Belong With Me’. The result is an album that reveals Zoid’s fearless approach to making music – there’s Zoid’s trademark rock, but ‘Postmodern World’ also includes pop, elements of jazz (most evident in Maree’s two tracks) and even alt.country on the album’s title track. Quite clearly this is an artist who is able to naturally enter different musical realms as her career progresses.
Zoid puts down her willingness to explore musical terrains that may not ordinarily be associated with her to her band. “I’ve got a very diverse band who all come from different backgrounds and so they take me in different directions,” she explains. The latter features Rixi Roman (bass and backing vocals), Marlon Green (drums, percussion and backing vocals) and Don Reinecke (guitars).
Reinecke is, in fact, Karen’s husband, and the father of her young son, Ben – and one of Zoid’s biggest supporters.
That becoming a mother has impacted Zoid’s current work is easy to see on ‘Postmodern World’. In fact two songs on the 13-track offering were inspired by Ben – the direct and compelling ‘Mama’s Gonna Sort You Out’ and ‘As We Go’. It’s hard to think that a more affecting, more exquisite song about parenting is going to emerge this year than the latter track – ‘As We Go’ is an album standout, a ballad that relies on a lilting melody to drive lyrics that honestly acknowledge what being a parent is all about (“But Babe you’ve got to know that your mommy ain’t perfect/Babe you’ve got to know your daddy ain’t perfect/Babe, you’ve got to know this world ain’t perfect/But love is perfect, Baby/Love us, perfect.”)
Several guests turn up on ‘Postmodern World’: Arno Carstens appears on ‘Silly Town’, marking the first time the long-standing friends have recorded together. “When I wrote the song I knew immediately that I wanted Arno to sing the ‘rave’ at the end,” says Zoid, adding that she considers him the most gifted male vocalist working in South Africa today. Working with Afro-jazz artist, Selaelo Selota at the Old Mutual Encounters recently prompted Zoid to include him on Hold On To Me’, his guitarwork firmly locating the song in Africa. Also adding his “howling and obscene running commentary” to ‘Katherine Ann’ is Martin Rocka.
Over a career that lasted six years now, Zoid has earned accolades (including gold album sales and many awards) but she says that what continues to drive her is a deep-seated desire to create music that she can get up on stage and play live. “When I was in that all-girl punk band, or busking or when I am playing to a huge crowd at Oppikoppi, the feeling I get from delivering my music is still the same – and that’s why I do this. All the stuff that goes around making an album – the promo, the interviews, making videos, the artwork … that’s work. Playing live? That’s what I love.”
[August 2007]
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