Yumi Zouma’s fifth studio album may be the rockiest of their career, but that doesn’t mean the New Zealand four-piece have abandoned their dream-pop roots. “There’s still a lot of elements of what we’ve done in the past or dream-pop-inspired sounds in the more downtempo tracks on the album,” vocalist/keyboardist Christie Simpson tells Apple Music. “It’s not an album of two halves as such, but I think we went more extreme to either end of the sounds we’ve explored before.” Expanding their musical boundaries opened other creative avenues, with Simpson tackling her most personal lyrics to date around themes such as her ADHD diagnosis (“Drag”) and the mental-health downsides of touring (“95”). “When you push into different territory sonically, you open up different lyrical things,” says guitarist Josh Burgess. “If it was a dream-pop song, it would be easier to fall into some tropes we’ve done of that stuff. Sometimes those sharp changes bring out different themes.” Here, Burgess and Simpson take Apple Music through No Love Lost to Kindness, track by track. “Cross My Heart and Hope to Die” Burgess: “We saw [former New Zealand Prime Minister] John Key in a hotel lobby. Sometimes you get paralyzed: You would love to walk up to someone that has done things that you disagree with and give them a piece of your mind, but then something stops you. And maybe that comes from the helplessness of, what are we going to really say to the ex-prime minister? Three indie kids coming up being like, ‘Your neoliberal policies we didn’t agree with.’” Simpson: “But by putting it in the song, it felt good. It’s almost like you get another go at it. By saying that, you did speak to him in the song. You kind of got that moment of like, here’s what I would have done.” “Bashville on the Sugar” Burgess: “I’ve got a real sweet tooth, and being bashville [means] being too gung-ho on the sugar. That’s where that title comes from.” Simpson: “[The working title] was actually a typo of bashful versus bashville. But then, we were like, we like this idea that maybe that’s a town or a place. The song’s a little more abstract compared to some others that we have.” “Drag” Simpson: “I had an ADHD diagnosis after suspecting it for a while, and I started medication just before we went on tour. So, I was in that really strange phase of grieving what my life could have been. It’s quite a common story that is told with late-diagnosis ADHD, especially in women, because it’s often missed. The struggle that [I] got so used to, that is the drag. Every day was a drag for a lot of the time leading up to my diagnosis. It’s been a lot better since.” “Blister” Burgess: “This is a song that is best described as the total absence of thought.” Simpson: “No thoughts, just rock. It’s the light release after the heavier stuff. You want a song that you feel like you could do on the main stage at Glastonbury, and people would be singing along with you. So, we’re going to manifest that.” “Phoebe’s Song” Burgess: “It’s a schmoozy love song for my girlfriend.” Simpson: “You can hear the joy in the song. And Phoebe is quite a joyous person. It’s got Phoebe’s energy, and it’s got Josh’s energy. It’s fun to do a song like that.” “Cowboy Without a Clue” Burgess: “If you think of 150 years ago, if you had a long-distance relationship between Brisbane and Melbourne, that was impossible. So, before you know it, you’ll be falling in love with someone living on Pluto, and you are stuck down on Earth. We love to think that the future is going to solve all these problems. I feel like this is one of the most quintessential Yumi Zouma songs.” “Chicago 2am” Simpson: “I ended up writing it about meeting my partner in Chicago. We were both playing shows on the same night. His band’s Australian, mine’s Kiwis who live around the world. It has a dual theme, because in the verses, I’m talking about how that moment felt life-changing and the magic of it all and the weird coincidence of us meeting. But then, it’s also got this theme of like, OK, but what does that mean for the rest of my life? How is that going to change things?” “Judgement Day” Simpson: “It’s that thing where you’re like, I think this really feels like the real thing. But you don’t really know because when you meet someone like that in passing, you don’t have a chance to spend enough time to get to know. And it feels like you have to move fast, but then you’re also scared of moving too fast.” “Did You See Her?” Simpson: “It’s about what you think people are saying about you. You just get into that anxiety spiral in your head when you’ve decided to blow your life apart, and it’s that feeling of what you think people are saying about you, whether it’s true or not. But it feels good to put that in the song, and then they’re not in your head anymore.” “Every False Embrace” Burgess: “Resignation is a theme of this song. That feeling of, I’m going to have a cup of tea and lie down. Sonically, it’s got some warm and cozy moments—an Omnichord, a harmonica—so, I think there’s aspects of resignation but being gentle with yourself.” Simpson: “It’s your classic song after a breakup, and there’s been bad blood, and you aren’t speaking with that person. But then, this is the song that you get to put those feelings into and to say it to something, if not to that person. But you’re wishing someone well.” “95” Burgess: “I think it’s our saddest song.” Simpson: “A lot of the times what makes touring worthwhile is when you get on the stage, and you get feedback from the crowd. You get the adrenaline. It’s like a drug. But sometimes you do all of that and you still feel empty. Being on tour is not conducive to being of healthy mind.” “Waiting for the Cards to Fall” Simpson: “I think this song really sums up the moodiness of the album. This is almost the moment of making peace. We’ve got layers of vocals that we put in there that are inspired by a lot of Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks—spooky, witchy vocal layers. The whole tone of that song isn’t stressed, it’s not tense. It’s just acceptance.”