Former Ishi singer Taylor Rea releases free new EP as ZHORA

Early returns on the album are promising.

Photo by Kenneth Smith

Ishi vocalist Taylor Rea has left the band.

Remember Taylor Rea? You know, the former trippy but captivating singer for popular Dallas folktronic act Ishi?

Well, back in early 2011 her and guitarist Rob Bastien left Ishi to start their own project. That project became ZHORA, of which we were teased with an early single in July.

Now, we’re excited to report that ZHORA has released their first four-song EP, and best of all – it’s FREE!

You can download the new tracks on ZHORA’s Bandcamp page, or just listen to the stream below.

<a href="http://zhora.bandcamp.com/album/zhora-ep">ZHORA (EP) by Zhora</a>

Early returns on the album are promising. The sound keeps a similar profile to some of the work Taylor and Bastien did with Ishi, though it slants a bit further into the territory of futuristic electro glassed over with a coating of '80s pop.

In fact, in describing the album’s first single, "Sunset," to the folks at the Dallas Observer, Bastien said, “Sonically, there’s an early Madonna influence on this song,” and you can definitely hear that in Taylor’s voice, particularly on the album’s opening track, "The Hold."

The clear standout tracks on this album are the opener, "The Hold" and its closer, "Sunset," with the middle tracks kind of blending together a bit. I’m looking forward to seeing this group live in 2012!

Download the ZHORA EP for free here.