The last time we checked in on New York City’s Zuli Jr. was for the release of his “Sweet Pea” in 2023, a single he contextualized as the height of “idealizing his life” in his catalog. As the singer-songwriter plans up his latest EP, “The Snake,” he takes a complete 180 in his music’s overtones. Zuli Jr. highlights some of his lowest moments for “Pistol,” his most recent delivery.
On “Pistol,” we find Zuli Jr. patently dealing with suicidal ideations, making heavy use of a coda at the end of each verse: “When I reached for the pistol, instead I picked up the pen.” This narrative plays out from three distinct points of view throughout the song, first from a first-person view as Zuli grapples with the concept at his lowest. “I let you get in my head / Tired of feeling belittled / I felt I’m better off dead.”
Jump to the second verse for an injection of a (presumed) partner and a heavy dose of spirituality, both in the literal sense and in a more holistic, trendy direction. It’s here we get some of Zuli Jr.’s dry wit and humor, promising just a few lines after some unidentified figure tries to sell him crystals that he “grabbed those rocks by the fistful / and prayed to god it would end,” simultaneously a bluntly truthful depiction of desperation and a charming bowl-over of what was assuredly a longer spiel on the benefit of gemstones.
Zuli Jr. Utilizes Guitar Distortions To Great Effect On “Pistol”
Finally, in the third verse, we get both the nadir and the climax of the song, easily the most venomous lines in the whole song, where a malevolent third person (the devil? a more proverbial “devil on the shoulder?”) barbs that the singer’s career to this point was entirely meaningless before an instrumental swell accompanies his rebuke of the song’s namesake and a vow to outsmart whoever is on the other line.
The narrative density is pretty squarely the driving force for Zuli Jr. on “Pistol,” but of course, its instrumentality is just as important. The tender guitar lines pacing the track are about par for the course in the singer-songwriter’s discography, but some distorted effects that came with them mark a rather novel addition. You can isolate them easiest at the beginning of the song, but they also step into the fore when buttressing the third verse, particularly effective in queuing up a quieted, stripped-back section as he launches into the lyric, “He told me I’ll never make songs.”
The more somber, transparent turn may be tough to swallow on first listen, but it marks a significant development on “Pistol” as Zuli Jr. looks to his next fully-fledged release. Catch “Pistol” now wherever you stream your music, packaged alongside the single that preceded it, “Trust The Process.”
