It should come as no surprise that Zhala’s debut album is a kaleidoscopic burst of electropop. The 27-year-old Swede is the first artist signed to Konichiwa Records, and most likely caught her label boss’s eye with the sort of booming, sweetly sung dance music that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Robyn remix single. But there’s more to Zhala than her protege status. She mixes rhythms and instrumentation that reflect her Kurdish heritage with elements of the quintessentially sonorous Scandi-pop sound typified by the likes of Niki and the Dove and Tove Lo. See Prince in the Jungle for an example of wide-eyed, bubblegum-pop melodies clashing with tribal drums and fizzing synths, or Aerobic Lambada – with its distant, shouty “dance for me/ light your hair” hook – for some unexpected, euphoric chord sequences. It makes for an album that embodies the dancefloor’s unifying potential – if you’re listening to it sitting down, you may not stay seated for long.
