GRAMMY®-nominated artist ZHU just released his new album, GRACE, via Astralwerks. His most ambitious and unique project yet, GRACE begs to be listened to from beginning to end, as ZHU takes listeners on a journey from darkness to light, tension to release, uncertainty to peace. The album – which is the soundtrack to a forthcoming film that ZHU created – finds him collaborating with such artists as BANKS, Emotional Oranges, UPSAHL and Zero 9:36, among others, and, on his new single, ‘Settle for Less,’ Puerto Rican/Cuban songstress Sabrina Claudio.
Obviously, ‘Settle for Less’ is a shining example of how ZHU stirs powerful emotions with his stories and sounds. Beginning with only pensive piano keys, he builds an ethereal atmosphere through Claudio’s reverbed vocals and subtle background harmonies. Finally, the track opens up further with an urgent, percussion-led rhythm as ZHU fights for love on the edge: “You know you touch me in the broken parts / So don’t you leave”.
A decade into his career, ZHU is sharing his world in a way he hasn’t done before. “I felt like I needed to go back to where I grew up”, he says, “to tell the story of where I’m going next”. Moreover, GRACE was recorded mainly at the iconic Grace Cathedral in his hometown of San Francisco. Amid the stained-glass windows and marble columns where generations have sought answers from a higher power, ZHU channeled the grandness of the setting into the album with transcendent organs, string players and even a choir. Most of its tracks are live, first-takes.
You can listen to ZHU’s new album below and on all available streaming platforms.
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