On Saturday, August 10th at 1pm, Excuse My French speaks with L.A. based singer-songwriter, Zsela (ZHAY-la), ahead of her show on August 17th at Cafe Du Nord in SF.
Zsela knows that artistic arrivals take time. The ambitious artist emerges with Big For You — a debut album that is raw, vulnerable, and a force to be reckoned with. Produced alongside close collaborators Daniel Aged (Frank Ocean, Kelela) and Gabe Wax (The War On Drugs, Soccer Mommy), Zsela’s first full-length album flows between grandiosity and intimacy to build a sonic landscape overflowing with introspection.
The new album features cameos from several members of Zsela’s extended family of collaborators, from Marc Ribot, Nick Hakim, and Casey MQ to Jasper Marsalis (Slauson Malone 1) and more. The duality of endless studio experimentation and weighty subject matter runs thick throughout the album, where playful production stands in stark contrast with lyrical heartache.
As a full length opening statement, Big For You emphasizes the expansive tension and release of a journey rather than its destination, one that the artist herself has compared to “trying to welcome uncertainty like a warm embrace.” It is the work of a sonic storyteller who has settled into a groove of her own, unafraid to ask unanswered questions.
