10 Best Genre-Blending Rock Albums Of The 2010s
4. Zaba - Glass Animals (2014)
Lets set the scene. You've just had a successful date, it's time to go back to your apartment and continue the evening, what music are you going to put on? Zaba. It's one of the sexiest albums you will ever hear.
It's also one of the the most eclectic sounding records on this list. It's most definitely rooted in psychedelic rock, but it's filtered through a variety of different musical lenses.
The drum patterns and bass melodies in particular carry a touch of '90s hiphop, but there's also a hint of jazz and afro-beat in there. Interestingly for a rock band, the guitar plays more of a supporting role, but its subtle deployment works to bring out a sense of the exotic, particularly with all the surging synthesizers and swirling ambient sounds that sprinkle around in the background.
Lead singer Dave Bayley's lyrics are fairly abstract, but it almost doesn't matter what he's singing about; his sensual vocal delivery really just serves as another instrument, adding to the atmosphere all these components are contributing to.
This record certainly creates a mood.
Listening to this album through high quality headphones is the only real way to appreciate the subtle brilliance of it. Having said that, it's also a damn fine record to stick on at party and have a dance to.