‘The Beauty Part’ by Zakoor | New Album, ‘Life Cycle’
Exclusive track premiere of ‘The Beauty Part’ by Austin-based Zakoor, taken from the upcoming album ‘Life Cycle’, out May 6th.
‘The Beauty Part’ sees the band continue to explore themes of life, existential questions, and love, as singer/songwriter John Zakoor grapples with the dichotomy of “having a lot of love to give while unable to meaningfully connect with the world and everyone in it,” he says.
Zakoor released two back-to-back EPs in 2020 (‘One’, ‘Take Off Your Jacket’), the music becoming a little less depressing and a little more mature over time. The new full-length album, ‘Life Cycle’, is the culmination of the sounds and feelings that swept over its writers over the last two years of pandemic isolation. The lyrics draw on themes of love and death and accepting nature’s indifference towards our finding happiness (case in point: pandemics). Each track attempts to probe a little deeper into the meaning of Big Things like: living, trusting, loving, watching Netflix, scrolling Instagram, joy, despair, dignity, and meaning itself for those endeavoring to be–and feel–alive at this moment in timespace. Zakoor has been fortunate enough to work with Paul Kolderie as producer and mixing engineer on all three releases. Paul activated each track with energy and expertise and afforded Zakoor’s listeners with the kind of ear candy one can get lost in.
John Zakoor (singer/songwriter) left NYC in early March 2020 as the city was quickly becoming the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic; in the frenzy, he decided to drop out of The School of Visual Arts and flee to Austin, TX where he, his wife, and their weird dog could shelter with family. While in isolation, John reached out to his good friend and drummer Bryan O’Flynn about making music. Communicating solely through email and text, songs began to form, and the band Zakoor came into being; writing music together in this unconventional way became both respite and survival for the duo. Trying to make sense of what was happening in the world, Zakoor pays homage to 80s pop, 90s grunge, and a whole lot of modern-day existentialism. Their new album Life Cycle was mixed and produced by Paul Kolderie and mastered by Pete Weiss.
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