It’s not very often that you come across a piece of music – an EP, may I add? Not just a single, it’s a 5-track EP – that shocks you when you see how young the artist who created it is. Well, Zahra’s new EP ‘in my company’ does just that. It’s a very mature body of work with depth and substance. Zahra is a 20-year-old American artist, and this represents her second EP.
The first song, 'naturally', starts with some delicate, hollow piano playing with some ethereal ‘oh’s being sung alongside it. This opening track of the EP sets the scene and gives us a glimpse into the sort of atmosphere Zahra is creating here. She sings this song softly as she expresses feelings of being alone. But, in contrast to her previous EP ‘I Feel Weird’, this new release isn’t negative or based on sadness. Instead, this track and the whole EP is about how being alone has helped Zahra become a more authentic version of herself.
Zahra guides us through this EP with delicate piano played with feeling and emotion, which plays perfectly with her powerful, unique voice. She clearly thinks intricately about which instruments to use and how she uses them, as sometimes the focal instruments of her voice and piano are backed up by some hauntingly high-pitched string arrangements. In the third track of the EP, ‘I like my company’, she brings in a drumbeat, adding another layer of sound and taking the track to another level. She doesn’t just add sounds willy nilly, though; only ever when it perfectly compliments the already-sufficient and deep-sounding piano and vocal parts.
The final song of this EP is called ‘a part of me’, which stands as a short affirmation style of song that summarises what Zahra has learned on the personal journey that this EP portrays. She gives out some very important things to tell yourself when you’re struggling, such as ‘I’m not my anxiety’, showing that she’s developed a stronger mental capacity from the alone time that she appreciates so much.
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