Single Review: Seven Foot Wall

Kazia

Review by Kev Rowland // 2 April 2023

Earlier this year I caught up with Kazia for the first time, a band which comprises people who are all involved in other outfits, so we have singer Phoebe Walsh (Brown Sugar Factory), drummer Oliver Prendergast (Strangely Arousing), bassist/flautist Michael Anderson (The Vibes) and keyboard player Michael Ligani (Big Tasty). Musically this is a group who are heavily into soul, jazz, pop and groove, and having seen both Strangely Arousing and Big Tasty in concert I can see how well those bands align with this one. Their new song Seven Foot Wall is packed full of lush arrangements, but there are also staccato elements which provide a nice amount of bite.

At the front is Phoebe, who has a wonderfully controlled vocal style, which has more than a little in common with Amy Winehouse, bring that pop elements to sit over the top. She provides cut through, and the structure of the chorus and its change in attack reminded me that when I saw these guys play, they covered Toto’s Georgy Porgy, as the chorus has far more in common with that style than the lush music we get the rest of the time. With a bass taking on a melodic role, and the keyboards being wonderfully layered, there is no room here for a guitar and it is never missed. The result is a wonderfully commercial, highly polished, single packed full of soul and I look forward to hearing more.

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About the author Kev Rowland

From 1990 – 2006 I ran Feedback fanzine in the UK, writing about bands that were rarely covered in the mainstream press, many of whom were in the underground scene. I built close ties with many British Progressive groups in particular, including writing the newsletter for Freewill, getting gigs for Credo and writing the introduction to Galahad’s OCMDII compilation. I reviewed literally thousands of cassettes and then CDs from bands from throughout the world, and was lucky enough to interview many of them. During this period I also contributed to the French progzine Acid Dragon, wrote for the music newspaper Rock ‘n’ Reel and was also involved with the Ghostland website. In 2006 I moved to NZ, and stopped running Feedback (which was then renamed Amplified after I left, at my request) having produced over 80 editions with more than 11,000 pages of print and heaven knows how many reviews

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