Robbie Z’s new EP Anemoia arrives at a time when longing for a past we never lived has practically become a generational hobby. The London-based Bulgarian pop-rap artist has built his world around that exact sensation, nostalgia without a timestamp, and here he leans fully into it.
Anemoia is his most cohesive and adventurous project yet, shaped around imagined memories, summer crushes that dissolve like film grain, and dreams that feel more vivid than real life. Sonically, it blends early 2010s EDM-pop sheen with surf-rock shimmer, indie sweetness, pop-rap confidence, and heartfelt balladry, all while keeping his signature colorful, self-aware tone.
The opener, “USELESS COOL KIDZ,” kicks things off with a hazy, shimmering swirl of synths floating over a steady, punchy beat. Robbie sings in his slightly grainy, bright tone, catchy and casual, like he’s narrating a scene from a teen movie he wishes he’d lived inside. His line, “We are the useless cool kids, live like we are in a movie,” feels equal parts self-mockery and genuine longing.
Then there’s “FISH,” easily one of the EP’s most personality-forward moments. The beat thumps harder here, getting you movin’ with the groovin’ as Robbie slides into your DMs with a fast, sassy, flirty flow. The aquatic wordplay is deliberately obviously flirty, and witty, packed with cartoonish smugness, reading with the pick-up lines. You might like the line, “You my little cowfish, I know you’re horning,” cause whether he’s being real or not, you are gasping to it for real. He’s made charisma the absolute point here. The sea should be his now.
The title track “Anemoia” closes the emotional loop. A gentle strumming guitar, warm drum patter, and Robbie’s suddenly softer, wistful voice tell the EP’s thesis outright. He sings like he’s wandering through a memory he invented just to miss it. The line, “I want to go back to a time that wasn’t mine” says a lot about how depressing reality right now must be, to want to go back to a less digital time.
Anemoia isn’t pretending to remember the past—it’s mourning its absence. It goes deeper to tell us that the quality of life used to be better.
STAY IN TOUCH:
INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | SPOTIFY | TIKTOK | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
Review by: Naomi Joan