Repetition isn’t something Phantom Sugar’s Stevie Zita takes lightly. It’s a compelling common denominator in both “Punch Drunk” and the title track to the new, self-released Habitual EP.
“The two songs are about recurring arguments that are almost like déjà vu—or like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day,” says Zita.
Since its debut earlier this year, Zita’s Toronto-based indie-rock passion project has issued a half-dozen singles that have found traction on Spotify’s Fresh Finds Indie and other popular digital playlists. Habitual collects all six tunes. Another standout track, the vaguely nostalgic “Too Psycho,” was featured in Yuppie, an offbeat Canadian dramedy recently selected for the Toronto International Film Festival.
For more on “Punch Drunk,” here’s Zita: “The repetitive lo-fi pop brings a song-that-never-ends kind of vibe, but there’s still a disdain and an aggression to it. I also used repetition with the vocals and lyrics—like, ‘over and over.’ I wanted the lyrics to be as close to actual dialogue as possible to really capture a lovers’ quarrel.”
We’re proud to premiere Phantom Sugar’s “Punch Drunk” video.
—Hobart Rowland
