This past week I got super excited because I heard Zoot Woman have a new album coming out, but many people who I talked about it with were like, "Uh who?" I guess Zoot Woman never really made in the US beyond cult adoration, but in 2001 when I was living in the UK, I was obsessed. Their debut album Living in a Magazine was a slick and slinky blend of synths, motorik chugs, and hooks for days. Not to mention a tidy Bryan Ferry-esque sense of sartorial panache. The trio—made up of brothers Johnny and Adam Blake, and Stuart Price—tipped its hat to the 80s without sounding redundant. (Listen to the whole album here immediately!)Rewind to the late 90s and Stuart Price had already made a name for himself as they guy who pranked everyone for a hot minute by going under the pseudonym Jacques Lu Cont and releasing disco-funk cuts as Les Rythmes Digitales—despite actually being from the dull commuter town of Reading, England. Subsequently Price went on to produce everyone from Madonna to The Killers to to the Pet Shop Boys to Kylie and Gwen Stefani. He's a whizz.Zoot Woman carried on in tandem, releasing two more full-lengths, but this is their first since 2009. Finally they're back with Star Climbing—out via Embassy One Recordings on 8/29—and above is the premiere of the video for lead single "Don't Tear Yourself Apart."According to Adam, "It’s a song for when you're completely lost, but you've got someone telling you everything's going to be alright.” God that can be annoying. He adds: "It was recorded in a similar way to "It’s Automatic": minimal music, simple song, written on an old Casio synthesizer and 909 drum machine."This is tantamount to saying "Don't Tear Yourself Apart" is as brilliant as their biggest hit, "It's Automatic," and it is up there. There's a Balearic giddiness here, despite the fact that Johnny appears to be trapped in a very small glass box where it's disco time all the time. Perhaps the message here is calm down, live in the moment, and dance on.Kim is an Editor at Noisey with a penchant for music from the small wet isle that is the UK because that's where she lived for 20 years. She's on Twitter - @theKTB.
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