It's a busy month for ZEAL & ARDOR. The band is preparing for a series of live shows next month (including a London headline show and a slot at Download Festival) as well as the June 8 release of the anticipated second album Stranger Fruit.
The band has just shared the new song "Built on Ashes." The lyrics hark back to Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," declaring, "Like a strange fruit out of season / You are bound to die alone / And you will swing free in the breeze then." Listen to "Built on Ashes" here. The underlying lyrical topic was picked up in a recent interview with The Guardian here. Zeal & Ardor mastermind Manuel Gagneux comments, "Here's our last single before Stranger Fruit comes out in its entirety. 'Built on Ashes' is the album's closing track and stands out as a more sombre track, acting as a farewell of sorts. We hope you like it... there's a storm out there."The diverse yet cohesive nature of the 16 tracks on Stranger Fruit is designed to encourage the listener to dig a little deeper and find their own meaning in its words. These songs are deliberately intended to play off each other both lyrically and musically. While the record seethes with justifiable rage, its wider-reaching aim is to unify and inspire action, not to divide and create inertia. Superficially, the album tells isolated stories, but there are references to the Goetia, Yoruba, and obscure occult literature and history.
Mixing blues, gospel, and soul with harsher music has opened up a world of possibilities for Gagneux. Previously creating as a one man solo effort, the immense interest and critical acclaim Zeal & Ardor attracted upon release of debut album Devil Is Fine, has led to the project becoming a fully-fledged, internationally-touring band.Videos