Zelienople Everything Is Simple

Zelienople don’t release much, but when they do you, can guarantee it’ll be special. It’s been four years since their last album, 2020’s Miasmah-released ‘Hold You Up, and since then the band have switched up their working method. Previously stationed in drummer Mike Weis’s basement-cum-studio, Zelienople’s regular sessions were interrupted when Weis relocated from Chicago to Kalamazoo, so they used to opportunity to sharpen their approach. Original collaborator PM Tummala is brought in for added synth, Rhodes and vibraphone, while Eric Eleazer plays synth and Rhodes. Tummala also handles the production on ‘Everything is Simple’, using his own studio for the recording and taking some of the pressure off Matt Christensen, who’s here allowed to concentrate solely on his vocals and dreamy guitar parts for the first time in years. Multi- instrumentalist Brian Harding, meanwhile, is the glue that binds, playing droning woodwind and bass to create that distinct Zelienople texture we know and love