While Christchurch alt-pop quartet Yumi Zouma continues to release new material as recently as last month, you may have wondered, just what the heck happened to their frontwoman and co-founder Kim Pflaum? For a quick recap, Pflaum took a departure from YZ within their first year to pursue solo songwriting, and soon introduced the alias Madeira with her 2016 debut EP Bad Humors. In the three years since, Pflaum’s relocated from Auckland to London and adopted the much more idiosyncratic moniker, Laumė, alongside a treasure trove of voyeuristic lyrical observations.
French producer Rude Jude helped shape the baker’s dozen of new tracks on Laumė’s official premiere, Waterbirth, inviting in funk-pop sounds akin to ’80s icons like Sade and Kate Bush as well as the modern tones of contemporaries like Grimes. The crossroad of anti-social tendencies and FOMO-fueled pressures ripple throughout Waterbirth – out this Friday – and before you re-introduce yourself to Pflaum and the latest iteration of her talent, cast yourself to “Spells (Oedipusi)”!
–Jack Anderson
Photo: Scott Kershaw
