Zia is the Arabic word for light and there are few brighter places portrayed on earth than on the cover of The Artisanals new album that borrows the term for its title. The remote spacious landscape is ripe for dreamers and this is what you get from indulging in the wares of what they serve up on a smart record that drifts carefree in the night air to juxtapose the explicit brightness.
The Artisanals, a band with a nomadic existence, illuminate whatever backdrop they frequent with a brand of likeable Americana rock. Out of all the acts they get likened to, it is perhaps Dawes that have the greatest association and this strengthens when you imagine the sound both bands create, namely primed for the live arena.
When ZIA crossed my path thoughts immediately raced back a couple of years when a gamble was taken to see band called The Artisanals play a soulless venue inside a London shopping centre to a sparse audience. The result was a smugness that it is not just the provinces that struggle to pull in a crowd to an unknown band, coupled with the added joy that the gamble paid off by the guys giving an exceptional performance. Hopefully they can return to a much more fruitful reception in the future and come armed with the key ammunition of a load of good songs from the new album.
The nine tracks comprising the sum of ZIA fluctuate from moderately good to seriously impressive. Note the high bar. The four falling into the latter category start with the opening trio of the acoustic pondering 'Fear to Fail' first up, followed by the pumping beat riser 'Heading Somewhere' generating a sound seminal to the album and the ramped up 'Always Taken Care of' that came through the pack after several plays. The quartet of pearlers is joined by 'Violet Light' that re-ignites the listen in the latter stages.
The other five may rise in stature in good time especially the fine closer 'She's Looking for an Answer' and the rather funky 'Plant the Seed' with a dose of brass joining vocals that venture into falsetto territory in parts. However for now 'Way Up', 'Driftwood' and 'The Road' play a vital but supporting role to the high spots that keep ZIA as an album that raises the spirits every time it courts a spin.