Mutant disco outfit NO ZU farewelled fans with a two-night stand at Melbourne’s Night Cat in March 2023. The Naarm collective, led by vocalist and songwriter Nicolaas Oogjes, had spent the previous six months playing farewell shows to audiences in Sydney and Brisbane, as well as releasing their final EP, Heat Beat, through Chapter Music.
The EP’s title track has been remixed for the group’s latest release – apparently their last ever – the two-track digital single, ‘Last Words’ / ‘Heat Beat Head’. The former is a cover of British experimental post-punk band 23 Skidoo, while Grim Up North handled the ‘Heat Beat Head’ remix. Listen to both tracks below.
NO ZU – ‘Last Words’
NO ZU’s Heat Beat EP was constructed around recordings from 2018 featuring the band’s late co-vocalist, Daphne Camf, who passed away in 2021. “Chapter agreed to release Heat Beat straight away when I mentioned the idea of not doing a whole album but doing the songs that we had with Daphne,” Oogjes told Music Feeds earlier this year.
“It was something that seemed valuable and worthwhile and something I always knew would need to be done, especially for Daphne’s legacy.”
The title track was recently nominated for Best Song at the 2023 Music Victoria Awards. Many of the awards are public-voted. Have your say here.
Further Reading
Nicolaas Oogjes on the Highs, Lows and the Community that Made NO ZU
Nominees, Hall of Fame Inductees Announced for 2023 Music Victoria Awards
