I had a couple of blogs planned to write today but they kinda got blown outta the water. Heh. Christ. Zak Waters, genius. I first heard of him from Sunset in the Rearview, which is a super solid source for good tapes. He’s been one of the highlights. So then I followed my usual process of general creeping and downloaded all the free stuff he had on Facebook which was pretty consistently good. Anyway, that was a while ago and I’ve been a massive fan since.

So today was the release date for “Over You”, the latest single from “Lip Service”. It’s a bit more serious than some of the other tracks from the album which is fine by me. He is one of my favourite singers around at the minute. He’s doing a really poppy, electronic thing which could quite easily fit into a “chart music” kinda category but I think there’s something that little bit more interesting going on. I once had an argument with someone about whether disco was relevant anymore or still had a place in modern music. I think that Zak Waters is the progression of my ideas of what disco is. Like, Daft Punk have kinda revisited disco in the last year, but I think that Zak Waters is actually making modern disco. Rather than writing reworkings of disco/Motown/ blue-eyed soul or whatever else people are doing, “Lip Service” takes all these influences and makes it new. Zak Waters is keeping disco relevant.

I love “Over You” because you get a real confident vibe though the vocals without it seeming cocky. He has the voice to totally do a Christina Aguilera all over it and it works. Like, listen to that “Don’t wanna be lonely” -bit. That is serious singing. Part of the reason that he doesn’t come across as a dick is the way he’s played it. The videos are visually interesting and don’t focus solely on him. There’s none of the same ego as you see with some amazing singers. I like this song and the album as a whole because it covers a lot of bases. I would totally recommend it if you like anything from Hall & Oates, Chic, Stevie Wonder to Katy Perry or Mikey Mike or Pony Pony Run Run. He combines classic songwriting, a great voice and lots of really well put together, contemporary, electronic pop sounds.

I fucking love him. I sound like an obsessed idiot, but I mean it.