Baby Zionov Releases Her New Album ‘Raceways of My Heart’
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.
Baby Zionov’s year has been full of sold out shows, festival appearances and charting releases. Today she has made it around the final lap to release her new album Raceways Of My Heart.
STREAM BABY ZIONOV – RACEWAY OF MY HEART
Raceways To My Heart plays like a joyous rave held inside an turbo charged arcade. Baby Zionov slams the pedal to the floor with high-octane tempos, funky basslines, MIDI horn melodies, and acid breaks that twist and turn through eurodance, acid and happy hardcore. Make it click and floor it into this camp chaotic record.
“Raceways Of My Heart is the soundtrack to an arcade racing game that only exists in my head,” confesses Baby Zionov. “Funnily enough, I don’t actually like to play racing games very much – when I walk into an arcade I lock into the nearest DDR machine like a homing missile – but I think their soundtracks are often uniquely amazing. I think this is because the songs have to convey a strong sense of place and atmosphere to match the theme of the level – while also being exciting and energetic to push you to wanna win. It means the vocabulary of dance music gets used in creative ways to express all kinds of moods and ideas and places, often going to unusual places that ‘normal’ club music doesn’t. It inspires me because I love the idea that the entire world can be expressed through bangers.”
“Historically, I’ve approached music-making without much intention other than the desire to mess around and smush different sounds together and see what happens. Putting myself in the shoes of an imaginary game composer forced me to be more intentional, going in with a picture in my head – waterpark, rainforest, factory, beach – and figuring out how to bring it to life through music.”
“I also intentionally kept the sound palette mostly just to recognisable “stock” rave sounds so that I could focus on making the melodies and harmonies themselves as vivid and evocative as possible. I don’t really play any instruments or have any formal training, so I did a ton of research on composition and painstakingly punched in every note one-by-one on my computer. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and I hope it inspires other people in my position to make the music they wanna hear.”
Zionov reflects “I put a lot of my heart and soul into this album – I tried not to worry about seeming cool and just focused on expressing myself as vibrantly as possible – and it feels a little bit vulnerable to let the world hear it, but I’m really happy with the result.”
Photo Credit: Frances Carter
