New delicate sounds emerged from a duo I didn’t know existed until this song hit the web (whoops, I had my head up my ass). Zone Out is an electro-pop duo consisting of Ashley Bundang (the excellent drummer of the excellent Totally Mild) and Dove Bailey (the excellent bass player of the excellent ScotDrakula). Neither musician is dabbling in the musical realms they typically inhabit – there isn’t any forlorn saloon-chic of Totally Mild or the whizzed-up garage skronk of Scotdrakula; Zone Out is danceable, rhythmic pop that does plenty with less.

‘Inside’ starts with innocuous synth and a popping click-clock beat. Ashley Bundang coos and sighs over the mix with lyrics seemingly touching on the idea that interpersonal relationships are not what they were expected to be (I think). Friends aren’t who you thought they were (“My friends have gone astray / I’m weighed down by all the things they say”) and things from the past tend to stick (“I should have known some time ago / that my hands are never washed of anything to do with anything”). I might be wrong, but at the end of the day the song is just really easy to listen to, repeatedly. It’s crowded in Australia at the moment for synth-pop but Zone Out have the pedigree to make something of this (eyes forward to an LP out in 2016, apparently). Big props to both musicians for branching out stylistically and creatively.

SOUNDCLOUD