MMM - The Picks: Amal Zenab and nasha
Trying a new title ok, don't mind me! TWO SICK ONES TODAY PLEASE ENJOY.
Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays. My ~music discovery newsletter~ where I get too excited about songs I love. I hope you love them too. If you do, you can follow along on spotify and please be sure to absolute smash that dang subscribe button! tysm :)
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friends, folks, everyone. I am in a goofy mood!!! Mostly because there’s a lot on my mind these days. A lot on my plate. And I’m choosing goofy over stress for today. It’s been hard to settle back into a rhythm here after that trip to ny. I thought it’d be easy, but a return home is a return to normal life, and a return to the problems and stressors I managed to ‘leave’ here when I was away. Who would’ve thought!!!
Anyways, in my spare moments I want to relax not write (making the most of our apple tv+ free trial), but every time I do sit down and do the work, my god does it feel good. I love these songs, and the excitement of sharing carries me through. It’s always music that grounds me again. Last week I went to a couple shows - former MMM pick slimdan opened for Ethan Tasch (whose album is realllly growing on me) a really fun and happy room-of-friends vibe and both sets were great. And popped into a house show, someone casually hosting 12 or 15 of the worlds best singers who all happen to be nice and cool and friends with each other??? And just felt so moved by it all, each performer incredible and closed out with the fantastic trio, Trousdale. Indescribable harmonies (but i will send you some vids if you want). A back-to-back of nights reminding me how magic music can be and how much I love it, how much I love where I am and who I am!!!!
It’s with that renewed sense that I get back to the page today. Two new songs to enjoy and obsess over. I know you’ll like em.
Amal Zenab - Burdens
oh boy oh boy. I wrote about the first single off this EP recently, Amal Zenab and Nathan Bajar’s Ride. I haven’t stopped listening. More excited about the upcoming EP with every play, and now it’s here and I’m over the moon. Safe n’ Sound, four tracks from these two. Spoiling us.
Burdens is an immediate ear catcher. The drums pop from the first beat, the unconventional groove like a spider web of music that I happily fell into only to find I could not escape. The moment you find your bearings with the drums, the band comes out in full force. The bass and keys riding together from chord to chord. It’s moving quick but it feels right and not rushed. Maybe it’s Zenab’s vocals, smooth and patient that balance it all out. Plenty of production surprises poke in and out, even that extra clap 0:13 - keeping us on our toes.
Zenab opens by repeating this same four bars over. Shouldering so much, taking on so much, and letting the discomfort, the pain, fester and build. It doesn’t seem like her choice, rather the only choice given to her from this other person. And even in her warm and deliberate vocals you can feel the urgency in the Holding back I cant wait much longer / Feel the pain creeping up this time. It’s now or never, something needs to budge.
And musically, it does. There at 0:40, the bass pushing hard among these angelic ooh’s stretching out forever. Like, they do not end. Geez. Launching us out, Zenab now riding a damn magic carpet of oooh’s and I’m loving every second of it. As she clears her mind, she’s casting out these burdens. Her voice sounds unbelievable as the decision gets made, and I’m thrilled. This synth is too, this new sound appearing, like rugrats but make it adult? It’s the perfect addition. It sparkles for a moment until we head into the next verse, Zenab clearly stronger and more certain now.
Stepping into the moment, this confidence in what has to happen and what she needs is magnetic. A heart set on one thing, clear on how to move towards it too. Coming alive in that last lyric, I must face my fear. The oooh’s are back, the moment feeling massive as we return to the chorus again. This time with a gorgeous melody to cast out the burdens. A powerful punctuation for the song. Some last little studio noises, a little run, sneak their way in, and the drums take us out. What a tune, what a project, sink ur dang teeth in.
Follow Amal Zenab on IG / Spotify
nasha - i still think of you sometimes - demo
I’m obsessed with demos, I have to admit it. They’re often full of life and imperfections that find their way out by the time the final product makes it to spotify. Imperfections that are palatable as the artist just tries to get this idea out, and those are my favorite parts!!! This one scratches the itch and then some, won me over with just one listen.
Even before we start, the squeaks and cracks, the room tone, it all feels real and personal and warm and good. nasha picks through a breezy chord progression. With so much texture around it, even on its own the guitar fills the track. nasha’s vocals joining in a didn’t-even-know-you-needed-this moment. That first lyric setting the tone and then some. There’s so much I wanna say to you. Thoughts lingering and swelling in her head. The way the chest hurts line lands a BLOW to my chest too… oof the pain feels genuine and raw in this version, just us and a microphone. The way nasha’s vocals hit too are amazing. There’s a couple of layers here, both rubbing up agains each other in a really beautiful way. Tack some reverb on there to let them run off into the horizon and it makes for a magic result. With just guitar, they feel so personal, mixed in a way that makes them feel like… inside my own head? Makes the emotions that much more intense too.
As the story carries on, we get more specifics (the coffee smell, the thumb wars in bed) that on their own would be endearing moments looking back and missing this past love. But the framing is genius - asking this ex if they remember or “did you forget instead” positioning the ex as having this power to choose to move on, even while nasha remains in the pain. It offers so much more to the moment, maybe some frustration in how they’ve responded to the break up, maybe some insecurities around ‘how significant was this if you just moved along’. Damn life is crazy, and the brain doesn’t give you any breaks, huh?
Before the next verse, the guitar plucks the two-note chords, repeating in a way that feels grounding. nasha coming back to themselves after leaving so much out there in the last verse. Gathering the nerve for one last section, and it’s gonna go ahead and break my heart: If this is all I can give to you / then let this song be yours / i would’ve done it all again / for what it’s worth
A beautiful offering. A moment of acceptance and gratitude for what was even if it isn’t “meant to be”. nasha’s performance in this section is really remarkable, the lines starting with such incredible tone, crumbling back into humanity as it ends, barely able to say the words. We launch into the dreamiest section of humming and oohs and aahs that elevate from a little bedroom demo (not to downplay how amazing it’s been until now…) to a stunning & complete work of art. Honest, generous, a tune to get lost in.
Follow nasha on IG / Spotify
We’re off next week before the recap to end the month - hope you’re all doing well. And if you’re in LA let’s hang out???
Also wouldn’t be able to send this without one last rec - the new Mk.Gee is everything I wanted.
Ooooooh baby what a tune. Ok talk soon,
Max