Zaritza – Shadows
ARTIST NAME: Zaritza
SONG TITLE: Shadows
RELEASE DATE: July 9, 2021
GENRE: Electro-Pop/Alternative/Indie Electronic
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With influences from Rachmaninoff to Radiohead and Mendelssohn to Massive Attack, Zaritza fuses styles and cultures to create sophisticated, relatable, contemporary electro-pop.
Originally from a remote Russian village, Zaritza moved to the US to pursue her musical ambitions. Her name is a blend of two Russian words: “Zarya”, which describes the Golden Hour, that intense time of bright light that appears just before sunrise or sunset, and “tsartiza”, meaning queen. And indeed, she is a golden queen, her musical training in classical piano, traditional folk dance, and ballet, and her connection to Russian composers and European electronic artists, as well as her love for contemporary pop music, have all contributed to Zaritza’s musical style. Add to that her opening date for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, her TED Talk on Rachmaninoff, and her acclaimed self-titled album, and you get some idea of just how radiantly talented Zaritza really is. Her music echoes her own personal journey from her Russian roots to life as an American.
LYRICS:
Shadows (Тени)
Verse 1
Silence
(Тишина)
Hanging somewhere
(Где-то зависла)
Emptiness
(Пустота)
No sense to
(Нет смысла)
Runaway
(Убегать)
Cut the veins
(Резать вены)
Spilling blood
(Льётся кровь)
But no rescue
(Но нет спасения)
Chorus 1
How foolish
(Как глупо)
How strange
(Как странно )
We wait for a crucial day
(Мы ждём поворотного дня )
We are people
(Мы люди)
We are animals
(Мы звери)
And that’s how we lovingly kill
(И так убиваем любя)
Verse 2
Darkness
(Темнота)
No oxygen
(Нет кислорода)
You’re alone
(Ты одна)
But not free
(Но не свободна)
One step
(Один шаг)
And you’re off the cliff
(И ты в обрыве)
One breath
(Один вздох)
And you’re in another world
(И ты в ином мире)
Chorus 2
How foolish
(Как глупо)
How strange
(Как странно )
We wait for a crucial day
(Мы ждём поворотного дня )
We are people
(Мы люди)
We are animals
(Мы звери)
And that’s how we lovingly kill
(И так убиваем любя)
We know
(Мы знаем)
But still, search
(Но ищем)
For someone who will break you again
(Того, кто сломает опять)
We believe
(Мы верим)
That we won’t
(Не станем)
Become a shadow of a passing day (x4)
(Тенью прошедшего дня)
Bridge
Ahh…
Chorus 3
How foolish
(Как глупо)
How strange
(Как странно )
We wait for a crucial day
(Мы ждём поворотного дня )
We are people
(Мы люди)
We are animals
(Мы звери)
And that’s how we lovingly kill
(И так убиваем любя)
We know
(Мы знаем)
But still, search
(Но ищем)
For someone who will break you again
(Того, кто сломает опять)
We believe
(Мы верим)
That we won’t
(Не станем)
Become a shadow of a passing day (x5)
(Тенью прошедшего дня)
Discuss how you develop your melody.
Creating melodies is the most magical part of songwriting and sometimes is the most difficult one to achieve. I don’t have a specific rule I go by and I try not to think too much about the melody itself first, I concentrate on the overall feeling and just go with a flow to see where it takes me. If a melody gets stuck in my head for days, I try to develop it further.
Tell us your source of inspiration.
My life experiences mostly inspire a lot of my musical ideas. I tend to use them as a base for any song I’m working on and evolve it either into a very personal story or fantasy.
Different kinds of sounds fascinate and move me as well. I can get so excited by a cello sound heard from a distance that it would keep me up all night and charge me up with some creative juices for days ahead.
Tell us the most memorable experience in your music career.
A particular highlight for me was when, soon after I first arrived in America from Russia many years ago, I was extremely fortunate to be introduced to and spend a little time with one of my musical heroes, the legendary songwriter, performer, and producer Nile Rodgers, who generously gave me musical and career advice that continues to help me to this day. I even got the chance to meet legends like Robert “Kool” Bell (Kool &the Gang) and David Robinson (The Cars).
I was also very fortunate to be invited to share the story of my personal and musical journey on the TEDx Conference stage.
Discuss how you build your song.
The initial spark of a song idea usually comes in the form of a melody or chord that caught my ear while just playing around and exploring at the piano. Most of the time, I almost feel the urge to let something out of my body, the need to express whatever I’m feeling strongly at that moment, and this powerful emotion transitions me into the most beautiful world of music where I feel the most freedom, I feel myself!
Tell us how you ensure your music inspires others.
I feel like the most inspiring aspect of anyone’s art is passion for and commitment to it! With every story I create, I work really hard on being the most truthful and sincere, bringing a piece of me that would only belong to this specific creation. I believe if I am deeply connected to the message, then it would be reflected well in a song and would hopefully inspire and connect to others.
Discuss the relevance of promotion to the music business.
I think it’s one of the most critical aspects of running any business nowadays, including the music industry! Artists spend a tremendous amount of time crafting their art, visually and sonically, so it’s very important to spend just as much time developing strategies that could effectively bring this art to a bigger audience.
Tell us what you will do apart from music.
Through my recent experiences of shooting music videos for my original songs, especially for the single ‘Slot Machine’ and my newest track ‘Shadows’, I have discovered how much I enjoy acting, playing different characters, and learning more about human nature by going deeply into these new roles, sometimes unknown to me, using a new format of expression.
I also enjoy traveling, connecting to new people and new cultures which have brought many life-changing experiences. I love staying active – Pilates, dance, swimming, etc. I enjoy different kinds of sports.
List the names of the instruments you can play.
Piano, synth, vocal…
Tell us if you have any music background.
Education was my family’s highest priority and I pursued my interests intensely. My arts education, on scholarships, included nine years of both dance school and music school, where I trained in my greatest passion, classical piano. Every year I competed in regional dance and piano competitions, frequently placing first. My intense classical training has given me discipline and a strong work ethic to take on and persevere through complex, challenging situations, whether in the writing process, performance planning/rehearsal, or “business” matters. In addition, of course, my classical background provides me with a rich musical color palette – from compositional elements to instrumentation – to draw upon in my songwriting, recording production, and performances.
Elaborate on melody and rhythm.
I think both are essential elements of music. Many can say that rhythm can exist without melody, but melody can’t exist without rhythm. I find them to be just as powerful when performed individually.
Tell us your future goals.
I’d love to continue writing and recording as many ideas as possible as it not only gives me a sense of growth and accomplishment but also helps me find myself more and navigate better through different life experiences. Writing music is very healing and therapeutic for me.
I also would love to start performing live again. It’s an exceptional feeling to be on stage, to feel the energy of people around me, to connect to them in the most profound way.
Share your recording experience with us.
I love recording music and collaborating with different producers… This phase is often the most creative and crucial one. Any good idea can withstand on its own and often doesn’t need a lot of embellishment, of course, but it’s an incredible feeling when with a good production, you can enhance something, make it sound more alive!
Tell us the most difficult part of the recording.
The most challenging part of recording music for me is being able to say “it’s finished” and it doesn’t need any more improvements. I’d imagine many musicians struggle with a closing aspect of the recording phase, especially when recording an album. It often feels like an endless experiment, thinking something else could have been revised or improved in the recording, but I also try to learn to accept and embrace each phase and every decision that I make at that specific moment of time.
Discuss the greatest mistake you have ever made in your music career.
My philosophy has always been that every experience, regardless of the outcome, is important for self-growth and self-reflection. I don’t look back and regret, even through pain and disappointments, I try to accept and move on.
Tell us how you build up your composition.
There’s no specific rule or formula I follow, but I tend to start with a music composition first in most cases and then work on lyrics. Music seems to start the flame, define the tone, inspire the story and its content. In the beginning, it’s always so intuitive for me to follow the melody and chords before I actually put my feelings into words.
Discuss the relevance of music.
I believe music is the most profound and transcendent form of human creative expression: it reflects and enhances the full range of emotions and how we experience life, from small moments to significant events, and it can reach across, and connect all cultures and generations (from a new pop song that’s a hit with kids all over the world to a centuries-old classical piece that still sells-out concert halls today).
Elaborate on the song.
‘Shadows’ is a very personal song. I wrote it in Russian, my native language, which allowed me to feel and express myself even deeper. It’s a journey of self-discovery, self-awareness, and facing your fears through pain. Shadows is a dark tune that is all about feeling hurt and learning to rise above it.
For a few years, I’ve struggled with anxiety, self-doubt, often feeling like I might not be enough for myself, for the world around me, which only enhanced and deepened my fears. At some point, I started feeling like I’m chasing and fighting my own shadows, demons inside me. Writing this song was very healing, especially when it all came out in my native language. We need to continue raising more awareness and acceptance of mental health issues and help out each other by simply expressing how we feel.
Elaborate on your artist’s name and the title of the album.
“Zaritza” is a blend of two Russian words: “Zarya”, which describes the Golden Hour, that intense time of bright light that appears just before sunrise or sunset, and “tsaritsa”, meaning “young daughter of the czar” or “little princess.” I took it as a stage name in reference to my Russian heritage and because I have the same given name, Anastasia, as the much-fabled and tragic daughter of the last czar (emperor) of Russia at the onset of the Russian Revolution and the modern Russian era around a century ago.
Share your press release and review with us.
Fusing the contemporary musical stylings of Radiohead and Massive Attack with the rich orchestral rhythms of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian artist Zaritza pulls threads from her musical influences to create her own unique sonic palette.
Following the release of her sultry single “When I Want It”, Zaritza continues to tease her upcoming EP project with “Shadows” – “a journey of self-discovery, self-awareness and facing your fears through pain.” Filled with ghostly electronics and low-slung grooves, the track is wrapped in melancholy and self-reflection – using her music to heal the shadows of her past. “It’s a dark and gloomy tune that is all about feeling hurt and learning to rise above it”, Zaritza explains. “We’re all fighting our own demons”.
Her voice is a commanding force against the stripped-back production as sinister spirits beckon her into the shadows. Facing the chilling specters head-on, Zaritza is able to transform her pain into purpose.
Zaritza has always found music to be her most faithful companion – feeling an innate need to create. From a young age, she fell in love with the arts, finding a creative outlet through dance and classical piano before writing her own songs as a teenager. After ten years of musical training, Zaritza emigrated to the US in pursuit of greater creative freedom and artistic agency – where she was invited to share the story of her journey at the TEDx Conference in 2016.
Her music now reflects a life between these two worlds, exploring themes of love, sexual liberation, dreams, and disappointment – every track a deeply personal project. Blending jagged electronics with experimental pop rhythms, her soundscapes are rich and deliciously complex – an artist eager to experiment with her sound.
Releasing her eponymous debut LP in 2017 to critical acclaim, Zaritza has since been using her creative platform to make the music industry a safer, more inclusive space for women, as well as exploring female sexual confidence and desire: an issue that hits close to home. A wholly independent artist, she has found her music banned across multiple social media platforms – facing regulation and censorship for discussing her sexuality on her own terms.
Generating support from Notion Magazine, Mystic Sons, and Music News for her devilishly dark rhythms and glittering electronics, “Shadow” is a further indication of an artist confident in their sound and style. It’s a true joy to witness.