Philippa Zang is a bedroom pop artist based between Pittsburgh and Dresden (adding to the slowly-growing list of German-based US artists with Jake Bellissimo). Zang’s music is built upon the lyrics, which read like snippets of a diary, little oddities and observations from the day-to-day that hint at deeper feelings, often indirectly, like watching a solar eclipse in a puddle of rainwater.
‘distant love’ has echoes of Free Cake For Every Creature, while ‘how do u feel’ is a bedroom pop song seemingly filtered through a Super Nintendo. ‘tongues and boobs’ strips things back to the simplicity of rumbly guitar and gently poetic vocals about pancake day and a trip to Amsterdam. This is perhaps the best example on the album of how little memories and anecdotes can be weaves together to hint at something beneath the surface of things, some intangible sense that pervades
“She said she’d take me to church
and show me the ropes
maybe I’d like to take a night class
I might as well look
never really registered my place in it all
guess i’m letting her go but
everything is new in the fall”
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=1992760477 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=1223972201]
‘Mondays can feel like’ is akin to spoken word poetry (“Monday feels like cutting my own hair and dressing up to make soup and cleaning up after myself and biking into the city to make people stare”), told over repetitive keys and slowly evolving atmospherics, floating in a fog bank before shattering at the end. Perhaps because it follows this dreamy intermission, the good ol’ guitar and drums-based ‘new once’ has extra zip, racing through with sort of sad whimsy. The instrumental ‘Bugged out’ hums and squeals with electric guitar, while closer ‘mattress’ is a quietly intense and heartfelt, increasing in fervour in the closing minute.
“No I can’t simply love myself
with a kiss or a bow
or a pat on the head”
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=1992760477 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=1632608406]
The cassettes are long gone, but you can get embarrass yourself as a name-your-price download via Leeds’ No Dice Tapes. Also be sure to check out the Philippa Zang Bandcamp page for past releases.