Music — Consumed

2015 · Jain

Zanaka builds on the foundation Jain established but pushes the production into sharper, more crystalline territory. The album title means "I love you" in Malagasy, and that openness translates sonically through tracks that pull from her childhood in the Congo and Dubai while maintaining accessibility for pop radio. Songs like "Come" and "Makeba" showcase her ability to layer polyrhythmic percussion under earworm melodies without losing the grit that makes the songs feel lived-in rather than algorithmic.

The production choices are what elevate this beyond standard world-pop fusion. There's restraint in the arrangements, moments where the mix pulls back to let hand percussion breathe, then pushes forward with synth bass that hits in all the right pockets. Jain's voice sits perfectly in the mix, conversational but commanding, delivering lyrics that toggle between French and English with the same ease the music toggles between genres.

What makes Zanaka compelling is how it refuses to exoticize its influences. The Congolese guitar lines and Arabic scales aren't window dressing, they're structural elements that shape how the songs move and resolve. It's pop music that actually sounds like it comes from someone who's lived in multiple places, not a producer's mood board of "global sounds." The album works because it's personal first, experimental second, and catchy as a side effect of both.