As we have probably all experienced, I for one, life is not a straight line, for better or worse, with all its twists and turns, of which we need to understand how to seize the best parts.
Certainly knows something about the winding path of existence the Czech singer and songwriter Lenka Zbořilová, whom we have previously met and appreciated as the frontwoman and lyricist of the indie band Billow, back from a 2023 ‘of highs and lows’, somehow the inspirations behind the new four-track EP “23” via Ostrava-based DIY label Korobushka Records, under her lo-fi Slowcore solo project Ivy Z, since as we perfectly know, music is always one of the best therapies.
Four heartfelt and atmospheric dreamy folk songs, for the most part, acoustic of spellbinding simplicity, made of vibrant entrancing harmonies and mesmeric vocalizations, reminiscent of Marissa Nadler’s clear tone, in a bare yet intimate environment, rich in sensitivity and anxieties, built almost exclusively on the organic grace of guitar strums, shimmering sober arpeggios, soft minimal percussions and emotive keyboard colourings.
The opening and EP title track “23”, as in the year 2023, is a moving introspection about a hard year getting back into the swing of things after 2 years of confusion and turmoil, veiled by a faint shivering fiddle-like droning haze in a swirl of feelings and sensations.
A little more pulsing and brighter with a layered rhythm & blues vocal flair, “The Worst Memories” is about finding out someone was pretending to care during the last year of a relationship.
In the third song, “Ruins”, beautifully fragile heartbroken vocals softly fantasize and suffer, lilted by sad obsessive, later slightly ringing, emotional chords and lonesome piano notes, reflecting about abandonment and learning to stand alone, or perhaps learning how to find trustworthy friends, through a lens of melancholy and dread.
On a similar stirring path, swaying on genuine, subtly glistening, resonances, the closing leaves a heartbroken soul standing alone in her “flower dress” during a storm, trying desperately to let go.
Ivy Z‘s new “23” vinyl 7″ EP is available through the DIY label Korobushka Records.
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