Yumi Zouma Debuts “Half Hour,” A Love Song About Death

In the first scene of When Harry Met Sally, Rob Reiner's beloved late-’80s rom-com, Sally (Meg Ryan) tries to convince Harry (Billy Crystal) that she isn't the happy-go-lucky girl he thinks. "I have just as much of a dark side as the next person," she says. But Harry's not impressed: "When I buy a new book, I read the last page first," he tells her. "That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side."

Listening to "Half Hour," you could imagine New Zealand dream-pop band Yumi Zouma having similarly morbid habits. The gorgeously produced new song — off the group's sophomore full-length, Willowbank — deals with a romance, but also an unshakable anxiety about what happens after we're gone. "I think I'll need you when I die/ When I've got no one on my side," Christie Simpson and Josh Burgess sing together on the hook, their voices tangled over muted snaps and melodic guitar shimmers.

"The line captures my biggest fear about dying — an intensely visceral experience with no assistance," Burgess told The FADER in an email. "My granddad died when I was 7, and I still remember this feeling of knowing that no matter how hard I searched, he could not be found. I worried that he needed someone to help him as he navigated his way into death." Hit play above.

Thumbnail image by Aaron Lee