Short Reviews [Zan Zone - 2022 - "Start Where You Stand"]

It has been four years since Zan Burnham and the band released ‘It’s Only Natural’, and they are back with another collection of pop numbers which sees them pay homage to Todd Rundgren, David Byrne and classic 10CC while bringing in rock, power pop and even prog (I mean, any album which features theremin must have prog in their somewhere, right?) to create something which at times is very experimental and others straight commercial. The concept is simple in some ways, as the rhythm section of Saadi Zain (fingered electric and acoustic bass) and Marko Djordjevic (drums and percussion) lay the bedrock for Zan to then place his guitars, picked bass, percussion and theremin, and then he and the three other singers (Angela Watson Modeste, Zan’s daughter Arianna, and Philip Dessinger). Since the last album Zan’s wife Marilyn Lisa Feldman died, and this is dedicated to her. Zan has a way of crafting wonderful songs and arrangements which really do cut across a myriad of styles, yet they always contain wonderful hooks which make them so easy to listen to, and the more the album is played the more there is to discover. We get some wonderful guitar-led instrumentals, where Zan allows himself some room to show just what he can do, while some numbers have female led vocals which again moves the music in very different directions. This is rock/pop music without barriers, going wherever the muse leads yet always staying true to the melody and the hook without sacrificing anything on the altar of auto tune or following the herd. This is the third album of theirs I have heard, and yet again it is hard to understand why they are not more well-known as this is a delightful collection of music, real music, which has real soul and presence. It may have taken four years for this to come out, and there have been a few changes in the line-up, but this is a worthy follow-up to the last album and is yet again something which lovers of proper songs with a pop rock bent really do need to discover.