zzzahara → Distant Lands

zzzahara announces their new album Distant Lands, forthcoming June 5th and shares new track I Can Be Yours (feat. Winter).

zzzahara's fourth album Distant Lands was born from the idea of communing with their brother; “talking to him about all aspects of my life across a long period of time.” The name comes from the sense that they exist, now, in different worlds – touching from a distance, as Ian Curtis would have it. It also references disconnected headspace Zzzahara was in when they were taking opiates in their early-twenties. “I would often feel like I was off in a different world, a dream world, blacked out and trying to connect to something that's not there.”

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.

Distant Lands is a departure from all that. The dream about their brother prompted Zzzahara both to dig deeper and zoom out; sit with some old wounds and write songs outside their comfort zone of sex and romance. Rather than focusing on the turbulence of their recent love life, they took influence from long-standing feelings around their family life and experiences with opioid addiction. “I feel like I've lived a life filled with lust, having all these rendezvous everywhere – which is really fun, but it can’t be fun forever. I'm a fucked up person on the inside, from all the stuff I've been through, so why not write about that? I wanted to make something that was personal and authentic… and not about chicks,” they laugh. “It's kind of a record about growing up, in a non-traditional sense.”

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.

Listen & Watch → I Can Be Yours (feat. Winter)

Pre-Save → Distant Lands