Like so many 20 year olds before him, Zion Battle found something transcendent in Joshua Tree National Park. Since age 16, Battle had been working towards becoming a musician, studying for a time at CalArts and New York's The New School. Then, in 2024, he left behind his academic training to begin making music as Katzin, exploring a more intimate sound shaped by a healthy love for the bedroom dream pop of early Orchid Tapes releases and the fuzz of 1990s indie rock.
From her early teens, Su was drawn to music, taking singing lessons and mastering the piano. She found inspiration within the electronic sounds of artists like Charli XCX and SOPHIE, eventually leading her to London to pursue music production at BIMM. Collaborating with innovative talents like Big Softy's s.g. cackle helped shape her unique sound, blending clunky, avant-garde guitar riffs with pop sensibilities.
Released independently this week, the County Durham native's first EP clashes brass band samples, shuddering Midi strings and awkward acoustic guitar together. There's a trace of Elliott Smith in his grey-skied songwriting, yet made entirely his own by the crude drum machines, pitched-up vocals and DIY production. At best, like the EP's weirdest track, Kalm, the music departs from traditional song structure and coalesces into delay-steeped, swirling ambience.