zzzahara Confirms New Album in 'Tender' in September

Los Angeles-based queer guitarist and songwriter zzzahara confirms they’ll be releasing a new album, Tender, on September 22 via Lex Records. In celebration, they share a new song from the LP “Girls On SSRIs Don’t Cry” with accompanying music video.

“Watching someone you love in and out of SSRIs is difficult but even more challenging for them and their life,” they detail of the song. “All you can do is give space and respect that they are going through a hard time... never taking anything personal. Withdrawal is chalk filled with evil surprises like brain zaps, depression, loss of appetite, dizziness... you get the picture.”

zzzahara will be performing select dates this fall, including their first ever European shows—complete list of dates below.

Their debut album, Liminal Spaces, was released to critical acclaim via Lex Records in 2022. Of the album, Ones to Watch wrote, “The beauty of zzzahara’s songwriting is how brilliantly they take the mundane and make it magical.”

Liminal Spaces features singles “get out of la,” “lust,” “gurl,” “cupid’s out tonight”—which FLOOD praised as “a playfully bitter fantasy about a less-than-helpful evil cousin of cupid,” while American Songwriter called it “mysterious and riveting,” comparing zzzahara’s voice to an “ancient secret”—and more.

Born to Filipino and Mexican parents and raised in Highland Park where they still reside, zzzahara is the moniker of queer songwriter and guitarist Zahara Jaime. Growing up in Los Angeles, they felt disconnected from Southern California’s predominantly straight white male rock scene and discovered making music as a way to process the experience of living in an ever-gentrifying city.

They became the touring guitarist for Eyedress aka Idris Vicuña in 2018, which spawned the collaborative duo The Simps, who released their Siblings LP last year. Following their solo debut EP Simp.Wave in 2021, zzzahara signed to Lex Records and put the finishing touches on their debut album, a collection of songs about queerness, love, lust, absurdism and feeling lost that trace their stylistic and emotional evolution from childhood through present day.

TOUR DATES

October 18—They’re Gonna Be Big @ Supersonic—Paris, FR
October 24—Courtyard Theatre—London, UK
November 1—Café Du Nord—San Francisco, CA
November 3—Substance Festival—Los Angeles, CA
November 5—FREAKOUT Festival—Seattle, WA

Photo credit: Kate Garner