Start Listening To: Tanzana

Tanzana on vulnerability, evolving as a band and finding beauty in the tension between nostalgia and darker instincts.

Glasgow five-piece Tanzana are carving out a space that feels both immersive and instinctive, blending trip-hop textures with alternative rock dynamics. Drawing from the likes of Massive Attack, Radiohead and Big Thief, their music leans into atmosphere and contrast, where softness and weight sit side by side. With ‘Pulse, Pose, Position’, the band move into more vulnerable territory, sharpening their songwriting while allowing space for something more open and emotionally direct.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

We are Tanzana, a five piece all female band from Glasgow! We create trip-hop inspired alternative rock music drawing influences from bands such Radiohead, Massive Attack, Wolf Alice and Big Thief.

‘Pulse, Pose, Position’ feels more intimate and vulnerable than ‘Covet’, what shifted for you between the two releases?

Confidence in my writing style and understanding where I’m comfortable in sharing vulnerable moments. Covet feels hidden behind a whimsical story line, whilst Pulse, Pose, Position also deals with whimsical themes, the emotion and vulnerability came from a place of confidence especially when performing the track.

We approached both of these songs in such different ways, there was a gap in time between writing them where we all matured a lot, started becoming interested in different types of music and overall became more confident as individual players and a band. Covet formed from a jam type songwriting session and came together quickly at first before we went back to refine it whereas Pulse, Pose, Position started from drums and we added instruments and sections gradually. Pulse, Pose, Position is more of a journey because of this, we wanted to have quite a light and dreamy effect at parts so that it would contrast with the darker, heavier sections.

You’ve described the track as being about reconnecting with your inner child, what drew you to that idea at this point?

I was dealing with frustrations of growth personally and within music and found myself holding onto and reminiscing on childhood memories. I wanted to reconnect with the feeling of being young again and the softness of these memories.

There’s a real push and pull between nostalgia and something slightly darker in the song, how do you approach writing in that space?

I’ve always been attracted to darker and eerie writing styles through all forms of art as I find it’s something we tend to try and escape in our own lives. I find it liberating to be able to mix dark themes and creating an uncomfortable atmosphere at times with nostalgia as memories can often feel like a dreamscape when looking back on them.

Freya, your vocals carry a lot of emotional weight without feeling overdone, how do you approach delivering something that personal?

I enjoy leaning into the vulnerability of delivering something so personal. It took me awhile to become comfortable with this approach but it now feels so natural and comfortable to completely let go especially in performance and revel in the vulnerability.

There’s been comparisons to artists like Florence + The Machine and Kate Bush, how do you feel about those, and where do you see yourselves sitting outside of them?

Vocally I take these comparisons as highly complimentary as both artists have completely solidified their own unique sound. As much as I do draw inspiration from other vocalists I allow myself to wander and play with aspects of my voice that inspire me. I admire both artists uniqueness which allows me to explore my own.

You’re coming out of Glasgow, which has such a strong musical identity, how has the local scene shaped what Tanzana sounds like?

The Glasgow music scene is incredibly vibrant and we are lucky to be surrounded by such talented and supportive musicians.

We definitely think the support from other bands allowed us to blossom into our own sound and have the confidence to keep creating music and playing live. There are bands that despite them being a different genre of music have encouraged us to try and create a similar atmosphere or feeling.

You’ve already built a bit of momentum through support slots and early press, has that changed the way you think about the band at all?

We now feel like our dreams are becoming reality. At the end of the day, this is our passion, so for us to get recognition for our work means a lot to us! In terms how we think about the band, it has given us more excitement and determination to keep getting better.

Live, your sound seems to expand quite a lot, how important is performance in shaping how the songs evolve?

Performing songs live gives us a chance to reflect on how we felt playing them in front of an audience, it's a good way for us to judge if we are fully happy with a song or if we want to work on it more and develop it in a different direction. It's important to us that we are all happy with the songs and that they feel right as part of our set. There have been a few instances where we will watch back videos of our gigs and discuss what we like about certain songs and we could improve upon going forward.

With festival slots like TRNSMT and The Great Escape coming up, does that feel like a big moment for you or just part of the process?

It definitely feels surreal to know we are now expanding to larger festivals and shows which is a dream come true. We have always thoroughly enjoyed performing live so having the privilege to do it on a larger scale is huge. It feels like a big moment however we have big dreams and we’d love to keep up with this momentum and see how far it takes us!

There’s a sense of growth and reflection in your lyrics, do you see your songwriting as something that’s changing quickly at the moment?

Absolutely, I’m at a point that feels pivotal for myself personally which has definitely affected my songwriting. Songwriting can be like processing an emotion which can be hard if you aren’t willing to be vulnerable but the more we have written the more I’ve opened myself up to using songwriting as a way to process certain emotions or ideas.

What do you love right now?

We love songwriting together even more now, the more we do it the more comfortable we feel sharing ideas and trying new things, it's nice to see how we change and grow in between each song and the different effects they have on us. Seeing the way our songwriting approach changes is really interesting as we never know where a song will take us, it's a very fun journey to go on together to make something that we all love and enjoy.

What do you hate right now?

Seeing a rise in AI use within creative spaces. It is heartbreaking to see how certain people are normalising the use of AI in art forms. It strips back everything that art is supposed to mean.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

Mezzanine by Massive Attack. This album really helped bond us as band mates when Tanzana first began and we shared music with each other or were still finding shared influences within the band. Massive Attack’s sound is definitely something we are all in love with and is still an inspiration when writing our own music.

When someone hears your music for the first time, what do you hope sticks with them?

We strive for our listeners to finish our songs feeling inspired. Music, to us, is a way to express emotions and ideas in ways that words simply can’t. We hope our music enables people to go out and begin creating their own art!