Zella Day's second EP has been a very long time coming, but after hearing her new sound and all the great new material that's on the track list, it's almost a no-brainer to conclude that it's been well worth the wait. When she first turned heads a couple of years ago with her knockout cover of The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army", it would have been tough to prophesize whether or not she would be able to stick it out and rise above the rest. For some time after the work graced the Hype Machine charts, she went radio-silent and all anybody really had to go off of was that single and a couple tracks from earlier projects. However, here we are a few years later, and it's starkly apparent that Zella has beaten the odds and proven herself to be not only talented, but huge star material. The new EP—perhaps aptly self-titled—is basically a roundup of Zella's most recent singles, but even with that, it's still a force to be reckoned with within its new guise. The notable addition of the work's new release, "Hypnotic", too, tips the self-titled project into a whole other league. Over the past couple months, the Arizonian has proven again and again that she has the depth of talent to make it big, and this EP brings that fact together into one tidy little package—really solidifying both her sound, and her status as a rising name in the world of pop. The newest, aforementioned track of hers not only drives this point home, but its dark tempo and slick production separates her from pretty much any other name out there right now. We can think of a lot of other great new names making their way to the top in a rather rapid fashion as Zella is, sure, but none have her organic polish, so as far as we're concerned, her journey to widespread recognition should be relatively swift provided she keeps putting out great tunes like the ones here. You can purchase Zella Day on iTunes.
Zella Day