London duo The Zaramutas follow up their politically charged single “Watermelon” with “Big Steps”, dropping December 12th. If the last track was a roar in solidarity, this one’s built to get crowds moving. The band pulls from Royal Blood’s heavy-riff blueprint while keeping their own mix of rock, R&B, and jazz in the frame. Lyrically, it’s a protest anthem that doesn’t waste words: “Big steps / Shaking the world / that’s aching / once more.” Simple, direct, effective.
The main riff is such a perfect rock riff. It sounds huge and monumental, mirroring the impact of effective protesting and reflecting the lyrical themes. It’s huge because of the sonic choices they made, but also because rhythmically it’s backed by the perfect rhythm section. The drum sound has that perfect sizzle to create the momentum this riff needs, and the bass doubles it to give it even more power. The main riff in a song like this makes or breaks it, and this one absolutely makes it.
The vocals are on the lower register side, which is slightly unusual for rock because most rock vocalists go high to be in their own frequency range above the distorted guitars, but this song and its message needed these lower vocals, and the great production ensures that you can hear every part of The Zaramutas’ performance and that it doesn’t get lost in a muddy mix.
The Zaramutas have figured out how to write protest music that actually sounds like something you’d want to listen to more than once. It’s got the message and the muscle, which is harder to balance than it looks. Worth keeping an eye on what they do next.
