Monthly Archives: October 2024

Speaking on the video, Bon said “I was instantly moved by ‘Ghosts’ and how quickly and visually the idea started taking shape just through listening to zzzahara’s personal lyrics. Taking literal inspiration from the title Ghosts, the music video follows Zahara being haunted by an ex lover in their bedroom – all in a 2000 video game aesthetic. Working with 3D animator Hilmy Hendrakusuma we built a claustrophobic stage for a 3D Zahara to inhabit. The look was inspired by Japanese horror video games I grew up with such as Fatal Frame, Clocktower 3 and Alisa. It was such a great experience to create with Z and their team where they allowed for such a wonderfully collaborative environment. Directing this was so special and such a blast.”

zzzahara’s music wades into the deep waters of love, lust, and self-discovery in a part of the world where artifice and authenticity co-exist. Emerging from the heart of LA’s alternative music scene, their sound is raw in feeling and rebellious by nature. Their 2022 debut album, Liminal Spaces, chronicles a coming-of-age in Highland Park, following painful childhood memories through late-night, live-fast coping mechanisms, and the changes the neighborhood has endured over the same period of time. Their 2023 follow-up, Tender, marked a period of slowing down, looking inward, and embracing a softer side of being.
 
Spiral Your Way Out marks another sonic evolution as much as an emotional one. zzzahara’s songs have always come wrapped in a warm glow that reflects how they were written – namely at home in their bedroom. That glow remains on Spiral Your Way Out, but it also packs an ambitious streak and a gutsy punch. Taking a more collaborative approach than usual, zzzahara worked with a range of producers including Jorge Elbrecht (Japanese Breakfast, No Joy, Sky Ferreira), Sarah Tudzin (boygenius, Cloud Nothings, The Armed), former Ducktails guitarist Alex Craig (Jelani Aryeh / re6ce) and Halsey tour drummer Franco Reid, who helped harness their intimate style of writing and blow it up into something more panoptic. “A lot of the instrumentation is either a group effort or just two of us in the room, so it felt nice to have that weight off my shoulders,” they explain. “It felt comfortable to have them lead or translate what I’d written and make it better.”
 
There is a certain ease to zzzahara’s music that’s rooted in the ebb and flow of their life. They pick up the guitar and write every day, clinging to the most memorable riffs and melodies like lights in the dark. “Music for me is therapeutic,” says zzzahara. After a year of upheaval, zzzahara finally feels “calm.” The musical equivalent to going several rounds on a punching bag, Spiral Your Way Out finds solace between extremes. It licks its wounds in a place where pain and love, healing and abandon, sit side-by-side. If it has a message, it’s one of standing tall in your own shoes – scuffs and all. “That’s what I figured out at the end of this journey: I don’t need all this therapy. I can just be, and it’ll be okay.”