So Minaxi like flexing their muscles. We’ve heard them wax and weave between 80s indie and 90s alternatives, and like the last track of ‘Isra’ that tied up that EP, this release ties and wraps up the trilogy.  

There’s a sure footed lift from the start. ‘Full Of Love’ is as lightly wistful and fuzzy as first album Yuck or Cloud Nothings. That mix of mournful and noise, and lazy sun energy, it propels and it sounds almost homely. We might have strayed from ‘Luna’s lush atmospherics, but the detour’s a welcome return, a throwback to that first album ‘Khwab’.

‘Bug’ is a dream pop of reverb and soak with a litany of subtle climaxes. Its meandering speed and soft mix of textures, they twist and rebound off each other. It could well be the trilogy’s finest, and if the remix of this makes its way to your ears… It’s a glow of ethereal disco. ‘Sehra’ is a neater, more pristine approach to the slow grooves that ‘Isra’ relied on. There’s space, there’s a looseness, but it’s all kept in check, ‘Leaving Feeling’ beefs up that same blueprint.

We end this chain of EPs with the soft ‘Yellow Waving’, a closing of Spiritualized and Swervedriver hum that plays out a warm dirty morning. Again there’s a heat and a haze, a pulse and a thickness of sound. A post rock crescendo builds slow over time and reduces to nothing but drums. It’s the burn of a drugged up goodbye, it drifts with an ease and a charm. We’ve moved from introspection to sorrow and grief, and we’ve ended somewhere optimistic.

The Zia Fantasy‘s over, we’ve grown along with it. Minaxi have produced a body of work that progresses, involves and impresses.

As The Zia Fantasy fades itself out, it’s my chance to look back on the trilogy. Writing up three EPs plus an album as background might have taken more hours than I’d planned. But these releases were part of one project, to not showcase them all seemed dishonest.

In these EPs there’s a band that’s still feeling, playing and reaching for sounds. Sometimes we wait years to hear what comes out next, what direction the next album takes. Here it’s been laid out in real time. I feel like I’ve been right along with them.

Highs and lows down to taste, take as will, but to move with a band as they’re growing, a band that’s willing to reshape and change? That chance might have beckoned me in… And I’m more than glad for the ride.     

Further Reading: Part 1 – The Zia Fantasy / Luna
Further Reading: Part 2 – The Zia Fantasy / Isra
Listen: The Zia Fantasy in Full

….And P.S. That remix as promised…