EP Review: Live Harder

Zoë Vera is one of Aotearoa’s new pop creatives, having just released her debut EP Live Harder. Hailing from the Netherlands before moving to Aotearoa at eight years old, her work has already featured in major publications like Rolling Stone and received commercial airplay on The Edge and ZM. These successes indicate the clean, polished pop direction this first project has taken.

Live Harder revolves around the idea that we are more resilient than we realize as human beings. Good Enough opens the project with a dramatic ballad about knowing your worth. Vera’s vocal tone is clear and confident, introducing her as a self-assured vocalist.

Twelve Feet Under is a bouncier, more upbeat song about a relationship’s aftermath. A past lover haunts Vera’s narrative, giving her “monotone speech and a rage in me” as she tries to run from their “ghost“. At times, this song is an example of how Vera’s lyrics can be relatively simplistic, as she can lean toward the cliché. Nonetheless, clichés are clichés for a reason: they speak to feelings we’ve all experienced. Vera’s soaring ad libs add a fun sense of personality to her storytelling across the board. Plus, her knack for a catchy melody and rhythm makes her work undeniably catchy.

This song is followed by Dizzying, a vivid number about a budding romance that opts for contrastingly delicate, subtle production from fellow musician Danny McCrum. Its guitar grooves are satisfying and sweet. White then sweeps in with much eerier and more inspired instrumentation. It’s the best song in the collection thanks to its smart dynamics and intentionally unsettling atmosphere, crafted by layered vocals and spacious, organic piano.

The EP’s thesis statement Live Harder ends things in a moody fashion. Its dark indie pop sound is highly reminiscent of acts like The Neighbourhood. Thematically, Zoë chooses to “live harder” in spite of the cruelty life has thrown her way so far.

Zoë Vera’s first EP is highly accessible and relatable, dealing with topics of toxic relationships and self-worth that many of us have experienced. It’s pure commercially friendly pop that will surely make listeners curious what else Vera might have to say with future works.