“Cross My Heart and Hope to Die” marks a distinctively different sound from the early days of Yumi Zouma. The track kicks off their new album, No Love Lost to Kindness. With their first couple of EPs, especially, the New Zealand band distinguished themselves with a fresh, balearic, breezy sound. The tunes were as light as air, and even the the subject of difficult interpersonal relationships came across with just a sigh and a shrug.
One lead singer and several long-players later, Yumi Zouma has traded in their nonchalance for a much edgier and more challenging presence. The angles are sharper. The bass, in particular, feels like a an elbow to the ribs.
While some songs on the rest of the album makes more concessions to their previous work, the lead single and other songs on the album ask the listener to rethink their conception of the band’s capabilities.
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