Melbourne-based artist Zoe-Delilah has explored the all too familiar, gut-wrenching reality of a “could be relationship” on her new track Past Life Lover.
Although Zoe-Delilah is no stranger to creating music, it’s been some time and the emerging artist is finally back doing what she does best. Zoe’s newest sound offers something a little other-worldly that somehow still fits in comfortably as it’s firmly grounded in electro-pop.
We caught up with Zoe to discuss what went on in her word to spark such a simultaneously dreaming and tumultuous track.
HAPPY: Congrats on your latest release, Past Life Lover! The hook (“you’re my past life lover and it’s so hard to be in new dimensions where extensions of our old souls meet”) came to you at your parent’s house in Noosa. Tell us more about that lightning-bolt moment.
ZOE: Hey Happy, thanks so much! Yeah, it was pretty weird…it felt like some sort of message from another realm haha. I was sitting on the couch and the words literally came to me out of nowhere and I spoke them out to my mum and she was like “quick write them down.” I recorded them into my phone and already had the melody idea…it was pretty cool.
HAPPY: Does your songwriting process usually happen like this?
ZOE: Not really. I feel like I usually hear a melody and the words pour out, especially if I’m in a particularly emotional state. Sometimes I will go to write a song when I have a particular topic I want to write about and I will have an idea of what the lyrics will be and other times I will think of lyrics first and then explore loops or write a melody.
HAPPY: The lyrics in Past Life Lover are otherworldly, but so is the production! How was the experience bringing your vision to life with producer Callan Orr?
ZOE: Working with Callan was a really great experience and I loved that he was open to me using elements of the demo in the finalised version. I had produced a demo of PLL on Ableton and recorded my vocals on a mini mic. When we got in the studio Callan extracted loops and little weird sounds I had found and we then built upon that. It was nice because the song felt like it had a lot of its original elements but he took it to the next level!
HAPPY: “Inescapable love” is a strong feeling, and I think you capture its intensity really effectively in Past Life Lover. What are you hoping listeners take away from your message?
ZOE: It’s definitely a hard thing to feel and it can be extremely overwhelming but I would hope that people take away that true love probably shouldn’t feel like that. It’s been almost two years since I wrote this song and in that time I’ve realised that really loving someone shouldn’t be painful or make you constantly feel sad or in any way trapped…everyone can take away what they want but I guess that’s just something I’ve learnt.
HAPPY: Is this cosmic/pop sound something you’re looking to explore further in later releases?
ZOE: For sure. I feel like my new music is some evolving mix of cosmic, ambient, dreamy pop with hints of rock elements…I’m kinda trying to add all my favourite genres into one. I think there will always be those otherworldly cosmic elements to my music just because that’s just very me.
HAPPY: You recently moved to Melbourne, how has the new experience been for you so far?
ZOE: Moving to Melbourne has definitely been life-changing but it came with its struggles. I was so lucky to have moved in with strangers who are now like my family and to have met some amazing people. My best friend from Noosa also moved down around the same time so that was so lucky but it definitely took time to find the right people and to figure out how I wanted my life to look here. I spent a lot of last year mourning a “could have been relationship” and completely ran myself into the ground.
Towards the end of the year I realised I had wasted so much of my precious time on the wrong things and needed to re-evaluate a lot about my life. I went back to see my family in Noosa and was only meant to stay two weeks but ended up staying 3 months and became a literal hermit and loved it. I’m back in Melbourne now and my life looks very different, it’s now what I actually need…I take much better care of myself and I’m so much happier.
HAPPY: Any gigs coming up you’d like to plug?
ZOE: Not yet but I will be putting my live set together soon!
