It’s always important to start the year off right. Whether you’re trying a new workout, eating better, or whatever you’ve decided to try, a good start matters. If you’re as big a music fan as I am, you’re probably pretty used to using the early days of January as a time to focus on other things. The early days of the year are scarce, and it can be a good time to catch up on stuff you missed, or have been saving unless there’s something you’ve really got your eye on. This time around, January has been much more fruitful. It’s early, but I can promise that the latest album from indie singer-songwriter zzzahara will be one of the strongest indie albums you will hear all year and will definitly set a great tone for the rest of the year.
Sonically, Spiral Your Way Out is an incredibly versatile album, providing a strong match for the top-notch writing from Zahara Jamie. Some moments fit into what may be expected from a plain indie track in 2025, but with production help from Alex Craig, Franco Reid, and illuminati hotties‘ own Sarah Tudzin, tracks like “Head in a Wheel” and its damn near surf rock guitars keep you on your toes and eagerly awaiting what’s to come next. “Ghosts” flips the vibe much more towards the indie/emo fusion realm, and the whine on the background vocals towards the end is an A+ added touch on my favorite track from the project – it’s no surprise it was produced by Tudzin.
Songs like “Bluebird” show off a deep bag of tricks for zzzahara to pull from as a writer. It’s a great moment of introspection amidst isolation and feeling restrained from the world due in part to your own failings. Much of Spiral Your Way Out details the anger and frustration from a recent breakup, and no track does it better than “In Your Head”. The anger and the bitter frustration pour out over the punchiest instrumentation on the album despite being one of the shortest tracks on an album that barely clocks in at 30 minutes. “It Didn’t Mean Nothing” starts out the album perfectly and sets the table for much of what will come. The anger towards the former partner changing how they act on “In Your Head”, the isolation of “Bluebird”, and the lack of self-worth on “Pressure Makes a Diamond” all are set up on the killer opener.
The alarm that starts “Bruised” kicks off one of the catchiest tracks on Spiral Your Way Out, the slowly delivered lines are great and the excellent hook shows that zzzahara can give the album’s strong substance some addictive ear worms as well. “Wish You Would Notice (Know This)” is equally addictive and perfectly sung, with some incredible guitars to boot.
Spiral Your Way Out came out a whopping ten (10) days into the new year, but so far it’s been my favorite album I’ve heard in 2025. zzzahara’s blend of sounds on their latest album is one I’m excited to get to come back to throughout the year and it may stick as one of my favorites of the year the longer I get to relish in its versatility and consistency. It’s early, obviously, and there will be many more killer albums that follow this year, but the first week of the year with actual releases that weren’t deluxe albums and or Lil Baby was a productive one.
