Review originally published by Welsh Connections on 5th March 2021.
Zabrinski's new single “Sinkhole Hotspot!” is a wacky psychedelic blend of synth washed indie and punchy dance pop.
It seems appropriate to describe this song in metaphors. With an exploratory sense of excitement and anticipation, the track’s loose 80s/90s synths sound like new life emerging as the sun rises, while the repeating dance beat creates a feel of driving down an endless trippy highway. “Sinkhole Hotspot!” sits at a very specific part of the Venn diagram occupied by psychedelic pop-rock, Chariots of Fire, Kraftwerk’s “Pocket Calculator” (it’s a dead ringer) and the Windows 95 log-on jingle. And it’s rather catchy.
Lyrically, the track is a witty metaphorical reflection on the band’s mid-2000’s disappearance, the ground having given way after being sold a dream (be the loop of “f***ing life” a little bit crass in contrast). The final verse concludes with reassuring words of wisdom for anyone climbing out of their own deep dark pit: “dal dy ben i fyny, ti’n neud dy orau” (“hold your head up – you’re doing your best”). The switch-up to Welsh makes it all the more personal.
A possible criticism is that, despite its sense of going somewhere and impulsion, the track doesn’t arrive at a destination – it’s like an extended intro that might make more sense in the context of an album. While it’s possible to interpret this as an open-ended indication of things on the horizon from a band that always did their own thing, with a new album in anticipation for a couple years already, only time will tell.
Overall, “Sinkhole Hotspot!” is simple, catchy and certainly an earworm. While it is also a grower that may need a few plays before it clicks, it will stay in your head for days regardless.
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