Iona Zajac – Bang
Debut album Bang confirms Iona Zajac as one of Scotland’s most fearless and intriguing new voices
Following a spell on the road this year performing with The Pogues, Glasgow-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Iona Zajac's distinct brand of folk intimacy and raw experimentation reaches its highest heights so far on her debut album, Bang.
Zajac first emerged as a solo artist in 2022 with the EP Find Her in the Grass. The short four-track record introduced her sound: a mix of soft folk guitars, emotionally raw vocals and reflective lyrics. Later singles such as the fantastic Rubbish Jubilee indicated that she was moving in a heavier direction, bringing in electric guitars, darker lyrics and a desire to play with the full range of her vocal abilities.
This evolution is fully realised on Bang, a blistering 11-track album that sees Zajac explore new depths, leaning into her anger more than ever before. This fury is best represented by lead single Anton. Built on looping percussion and jagged guitar, the song is a portrait of power, control and sexual assault. Zajac’s voice is suitably unsettling, sitting somewhere between vulnerability and challenge, matching the track’s emotional heft well. This mood is explored further on Dilute, a rousing battle cry of a song which recasts rage as a communal energising experience: 'Don't dilute me, I'm not losing again / Don't salute me, I won't bow to your friends.'
There are moments of humour and tenderness on Bang, too. Chicken Supermarket is a woozy song built around a literal dream, where jelly seas, girls with yellow hair and police officers drift in and out during its hazy two-minute runtime. The best song on Bang, however, might just be the record’s most understated – End of the Year. Sweet and nostalgic, it's a deceptively simple narrative track that plays out over delicate strings. The song hops across time, from childhood to adulthood. The most evocative sections paint a picture of a teenage Zajac and a friend wasting time in their youth ('I got red, you got blue Golden Wonder / When the man turned around it was under your jumper'), drinking until they were sick, wondering what the future might hold.
Bang is a truly original debut album that burns bright with emotion and wild imagination, confirming Zajac as one of Scotland’s most fearless and intriguing new voices.
Listen to: Anton, End of the Year, Dilute