When English music duo Zero 7 wrote Don’t Call It Love with collaborator Swim Surreal over a decade ago, they had no idea they were sowing the seeds of what would eventually materialise into the trio’s new album (and Swim Surreal’s debut), In The Half Light.
As the first track written for In The Half Light, and the impetus for the album itself, Don’t Call It Love features much of the DNA that makes up In The Half Life’s palette of languid, psychedelic indietronica. Held in mid-air by a droning ambient backdrop, Don’t Call It Love is a breathlessly sensual soft-rock love song, sung with eyes half shut. There’s an easy sort of energy to the track that conjures late summers spent lazing on the grass, fingers tangled in the hair of another who may or may not be significant.
Although uncomplicated, Zero 7’s production is still nuanced. The simplicity of their choices allow for an effortlessness that keeps Don’t Call It Love light as a sigh, but as lingering as a kiss. The track’s wooziness is kept at bay by punchy drums and sumptuously layered percussion. These bring Don’t Call It Love to life with the fluttering urgency that belies the sweaty palmed tension of what might happen if desire slips suddenly into romance.
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