ZPEXTRE – “Save It for the Kids”
The secret beauty of ZPEXTRE music is that it needs multiple listens to understand the songs properly. He is an extremely talented lyricist who is always striding in confidence, each individual song in their catalog has multiple layers of his psyche embedded and ready to be peeled away. Though catchy as hell, this isn’t music for fast consumption that you throwaway afterwards. Few bands craft surrealistic worlds quite like ZPEXTRE, as they push for a blend of honesty and escapism that acknowledges the truth wallowing in it. In their latest single “Save It for the Kids”, they focus their diversity into something evocative.
“Save It for the Kids is about our need to move back towards a society that values the innocence of children,” explains ZPEXTRE. “A concerted effort to repair the damages of the last 4 years so that children may dream big and allow their imaginations to fly freely,” he continues, concluding: “There will be plenty of time in the future for them to be old and responsible. When they get there, we should have left the planet better than we found it.”
Californian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist ZPEXTRE, has been earning his musical stripes since age 12 when he acquired his first piano. He then went on to support acts such as Beck and Ben Harper in the new wave band, Bovine Keeler, during college.
The artist’s dynamic array of influences includes Phillip Glass, The Clash, Genesis, and any artist with the capacity to make music which resonates or allows the listener to find answers to problems we all face as part of the human experience. This is part of what he achieves with “Save It for the Kids”.
For the most part, the alt-indie and psych-pop outfit’s success has rested on their eclectic blend of music, which see them carving out their own place in an increasingly saturated genre.
They sharpened their songwriting with “Save It for the Kids”, as their lyrics provide more depth with their compelling portrait of humanity. This track seems like the natural evolution for the band, leveraging their knack for imaginative storytelling for a song that finds them interrogating the future.
Ultimately, the most engaging aspect of “Save It for the Kids” by far is its intoxicating atmosphere, which takes a festival-ready brand of psych-pop and infuses it with a healthy dose of synth-driven bang.
There’s something fascinating about the way ZPEXTRE manages to juxtapose the serious subject matter with a chanting, singalong and toe-tapping type soundscape that has an inherent quality of tearing away any kind of emotional impact. Instead that doesn’t happen here.
It’s impossible to not feel ZPEXTRE’s dynamic lyricism hit close to home, as he artfully layers vocals and builds entrancing bombastic backdrops, making the track’s run-time feel like a stimulating sensory experience, inviting you into a brave new world.
Under the guidance of Hollywood producer Kojak, it’s difficult not to completely lose yourself in this broad sonic palette. He provides a solid foundation for the track to build from as it swells with colorful vitality. You can touch every layer of “Save It for the Kids”, and sense the life that it breathes.
