zzzahara

Zzzahara’s latest album came to them in a dream. Despite being born and raised in Los Angeles, Zahara had never really gotten into David Lynch. When he died at the start of 2025, they dove into his archive of films and interviews. “He's so weird,” they laugh. “Always talking about how ‘everything's a dream!’ And you know what? At that moment, I couldn’t remember the last time I dreamed. So I started taking magnesium, trying to see what it was like to dream again.” Until now, the lyrical side of Zzzahara’s songwriting has been driven by their love life. Their 2022 debut album, Liminal Spaces, chronicles a reckless coming-of-age in Highland Park. Their 2023 follow-up, Tender, marked a period of pause and introspection, which was quickly counterbalanced by 2025’s Spiral Your Way out – an album written in the aftermath of a breakup, which rejected the pressure to strive towards squeaky-clean personal perfection in favour of embracing themselves. Produced by Casey Lagos, Distant Lands is a tender mix of lo-fi, dream pop and slowcore. Inspired by listening to a lot of early Beach House, Neutral Milk Hotel, and The Microphones, the album takes the same approach of spinning shimmering gold from basic set-ups and old analogue equipment. “I tried to focus more on the music than the lyrics, and making it feel like more of an escape in that way,” Zzzahara explains. Distant Lands is released in June 2026.