Yumi Zouma, 'Barricade (Matter Of Fact)'

For every moment in our lives that requires action — say, inauguration weekend in Washington, D.C., for instance — there's a corresponding sliver of time when we need to just breathe. New Zealand dream-pop act Yumi Zouma makes music for those respites from reality, and given all that's already transpired during the first few weeks of January, we may find ourselves especially in need of palliative pop songs this year.

The Christchurch foursome's debut LP, Yoncalla, is full of low-stakes salves, including the record's opening track, "Barricade (Matter Of Fact)." For the song's video, the band turned to Wellington visual artist Simon Ward, a man who previously directed Le1f's video for "Koi" and clearly knows his way around After Effects. The raw footage is relatively uneventful, consisting almost entirely of Yumi Zouma vocalist Christie Simpson singing (and occasionally smiling) into a microphone, but Ward augments the performance with three-dimensional, translucent shapes that float effortlessly across the screen. When the song ends, gravity takes over, in more ways than one.

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