Baby Zionov shares ‘Space Holiday’ feat. Moody V
Baby Zionov is the musical project of Aaliyah Zionov (she/her), a musician and songwriter based in Tāmaki Makaurau.
An icon of Aotearoa’s underground electronica scene Baby Zionov’s music is deeply inspired by the mid-2000’s Internet and blurs the lines between the worlds of pop, dance, and the avant-garde. Since her breakout 2018 collaboration with Ayesha Erotica, Baby Zionov has gone on to support Charli XCX and perform at The Others Way, Newtown Festival and Cross Street Music Festival. Baby Zionov’s critically acclaimed 2022 debut album Henrietta was nominated for Album Of The Year in at Student Radio Network Awards, where she was also nominated for Best Solo Act. Baby Zionov is active in her community, curating and producing the Loud & Proud Festival as well as remixing tracks for Memory Foam, deepState and Amamelia.
Today Baby Zionov releases Space Holiday feat. Moody V ahead of her September appearances at Great Sound Great and the 95bFM Kids Show Live. The new single joins Cirrus Homebound, Froggy Forest Raceway and Dolphin Diamond Raceway feat. deepState on her new album Raceways Of My Heart which will be released via Sunreturn on October 3rd.
STREAM BABY ZIONOV – SPACE HOLIDAY FEAT. MOODY V
With Space Holiday feat. Moody V Baby Zionov delivers a rave lullaby, a campy little bedtime story that you can dance in your pajamas to. The euro influence is abundant with synth arpeggios and midi horn melodies propped up by a funky house beat.
“Sonically, this song is inspired by that weird little moment in the mid-90’s when everything was Eurodance,” explains Zionov. “My Dad was a DJ so the walls of my childhood home were practically lined with novelty Eurodance CD-singles, and I unironically think it’s some of the most beautiful music in the world (pretty much everyone in my life makes fun of me for this). Space Holiday started as a way for me to study those songs’ production techniques and apply them in these kind of ornate, flowery ways that tug at the heartstrings, and these ended up becoming the “drops” that Moody V and I structured the song around. Real ‘Eurodance heads’ (there are dozens of us) will probably be able to pick out the influences, from the Vengaboys to Schnuffel Bunny to Toy-Box to Sarina Paris to the Sonic R soundtrack.”
For Space Holiday Baby Zionov is joined by Moody V, who she credits for bringing it to life with her dreamy and distinct vocals: “I wanted to make something that feels childlike, warm and inviting but also ethereal and surreal like glow-in-the-dark stars and moons in a kid’s bedroom. My friend Maddy (Moody V, Van Staden & Bohm) lent her incredibly beautiful, crystalline voice to it and wrote the lyrics, which are about going on a trip to space with your bestie and being captivated by its beauty together. I think her vocal performance on it, which toes the line between ‘excitable kids’ show presenter’ and ‘celestial space goddess’, is really incredible.”
Photo Credit: Frances Carter
