Wellington-based producer Liam Todd has spent years in the city’s club scene, running house and techno nights at Laundry Bar on Cuba Street and Club 121, DJing festivals across New Zealand and hosting radio shows on RadioActive. Now, as ZHERAV, he’s turned his production setup towards different territory.

That shift comes into focus on NAJA / BAZAAR, released on 19 December as part of Batov Records‘ Middle Eastern Grooves series, a 45 that links his club background to Middle Eastern-leaning instrumentals. Todd builds the tracks the way he would construct house: drums programmed first in Ableton, then live guitar, bass and synths improvised around the pattern until a structure takes shape. The difference is the scales and textures he is working with.

That approach is clearest on “NAJA”, named after the Indian cobra and written with snake charmers in mind. A bassline turns over the same short figure again and again while crisp drum hits and percussion do the groundwork underneath, and Todd’s guitar moves through Middle Eastern scales with reverb trailing each phrase. The track keeps the structure of club music — repetition, clear sections, a firm rhythmic grid — but the melodic material points away from straight dancefloor language.

“BAZAAR” on the flip follows the same method. Across both sides, the 45 sits between Todd’s club production background and something closer to psychedelic instrumental work—still built on rhythm, but led by melody and texture rather than the floor.

Listen and get a copy of the single HERE