ZAND Announces 'SEWERSTAR' EP / new single 'DTF'
ZAND Announces brand new 'SEWERSTAR' EP, set
for release on July 20th 2023
Brand new single 'DTF' is out now, listen - HERE
ZAND follows recent tours with Peaches, Scene Queen and Bob Vylan as well as main stage slot at Slam Dunk Festival, with a full US headline tour in September and UK festivals including Reading & Leeds
Following their recent Kerrang! Magazine cover, Heavy Music Award best New Artist nomination and tours with Peaches and VUKOVI, ZAND returns with stunning, brand new EP 'SEWERSTAR', set for release on 20th July. One of the most unique and exciting artists in the country, the ugly pop-star has also released their new single 'DTF', which is out and everywhere now. Explaining a bit about the track, ZAND says "DTF is an unhinged, orgasmic and obnoxious proclamation of self lust. Lyrically and sonically. Obviously.”
Listen to 'DTF' - HERE
This next chapter of ZAND’s story, stands as a testament and also a taster for just how versatile the artist can be, and how bold and weird they are willing to go. 'SEWERSTAR' wound up as a conceptual piece, playfully examining the different dynamics of ‘human nature and animalistic desires’ along with the depths in which they may go - light or dark. Pre-occupied by exploring the notion of ‘sin’ with individually complex and often hectic alter egos created by ZAND, the narrative is set in a hellish underground sewer realm inhabited by gremlin-esque reptilian humanoids, who ‘run society amok’. Each track tells a different character’s story, with each narrator – often more of an anti-hero than a hero – encapsulating a ‘star of the realm’ in their own right, hence the EP’s title.
The early single ‘I Spit On Your Grave’ fizzes with the rage of ZAND’s earlier ‘ugly pop’ days, where the artist tells the story of a murder fantasy about multiple abusive men, while ‘Religion’ playfully twists the language of the church to, ironically, celebrate lust with a literal gay angel. Meanwhile, the stomping ‘DTF’ inverts expectations with a knowing wink, tapping into the feeling of not being DTF at all: just ‘down to f**k myself’ - and the pulsing ‘Leeches’ fuses synth-pop with the eerie vibes of industrial in a gothic take on a classic EDM club banger. At the opposite end of the spectrum is ‘Battery Acid’, a more sensitive ballad bringing together soft strummed guitar and Gregorian chants. While it’s the biggest outlier sonically on 'SEWERSTAR', it’s less of a radical departure than it might appear on paper. “A lot of people don't realise that my bread and butter is actually the sad slow shit,” ZAND says, referring to a previous more acoustic-led project from when they were younger than they’ve since put behind them. “But obviously, I don’t want to be held to that.”
“[Battery Acid] was inspired by [the time] I was in an abusive relationship with someone who was very invalidating of my queer identity, but it’s like ‘I’m leaving you for this girl who actually treats me right because you’re a terrible person,” they continue. “That didn’t actually happen in real life. He just kept getting obsessed with the fact that I was bisexual and was always accusing me of cheating on him with other people. The song is a ‘What if I did?’ kind of thing, like, ‘Fuck you’.”
There’s plenty of that approach to be seen across the EP, where ZAND often presents themself in a larger-than- life manner, exaggerating certain aspects of their personality with the line blurred between what is fact and what is fiction. “Everyone postures in their art,” they reason. “I like the idea of alter egos and stuff, being like, ‘What if I did this in another life?’ I’m expressing multiple facets of myself, that may or may not be blown up or exaggerated. It just doesn’t have to be that deep or serious. One song I might be doing some cartoon character voice, another I might be shrieking my arse off.”
In a way, ZAND’s modus operandi is rather simple: being wildly and weirdly individual. A lot of the time, it’s not particularly serious. “Sometimes I just want to be dumb and write a song about having a wank,” they say. “I think to myself, ‘What can I do to sonically make this fucking unhinged?’ It goes so much further than just the subject matter, it’s all about the sonic elements and the production and the sounds that I pick and choose coming together.”
Even if it doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s clear how much thought has gone into every lyric and beat and synth. “I want every song that I write to be a curated experience,” ZAND concludes. Ugly pop has no ceiling, and when this artist could zigzag in any direction imaginable, the possibilities for them look endlessly exciting.
'SEWERSTAR' is out on 20th July
'SEWERSTAR' EP track listing:
DESCENT (intro)
Deliverance
Religion
Battery Acid
I Spit On Your Grave
DTF
L.E.E.C.H.E.S.
Live wise in the last couple of years, ZAND has toured with and supported the likes of Bob Vylan, Peaches (for the 20th anniversary of her iconic debut album “The Teaches Of Peaches”), TikTok bimbocore phenomenon Scene Queen and VUKOVI. They have also headlined the Forest Stage at 2000trees Festival and played The Great Escape in 2022. ZAND will be at this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival, and has just announced a full, headline tour of the US, their first ever.
ALL confirmed and announced upcoming ZAND shows:
25th June – Summersad Festival: Milan, Italy
21st July – Standon Calling: Hertfordshire, UK
26th August – Reading Festival: Reading, UK
27th August – Leeds Festival: Leeds, UK
11th September – Madame Lou’s: Seattle, WA, USA
12th September – Doug Fir Lounge: Portland, OR, USA
14th September – Café Du Nord: San Francisco, CA, USA
15th September – The Echo: Los Angeles, CA, USA
16th September – SoulBelly BBQ: Las Vegas, NV, USA
19th September – Globe Hall: Denver, CO, USA
22nd September – 7th Street Entry: Minneapolis, MN, USA
23rd September – Beat Kitchen: Chicago, IL, USA
26th September – Kung Fu Necktie: Philadelphia, PA, USA
27th September – DC9: Washington, DC, USA
28th September – Elsewhere Zone One: Brooklyn, NY, USA
