ZEAL & ARDOR isn’t just a band; it’s a living and breathing entity. Like any other sentient being, it consumes, evolves, and transforms from one season to the next. It has only sharpened its claws, lengthened its teeth, and steeled its nerves over the years, growing more undeniable and unpredictable in the process.
After delivering gentle, harmonious new song “to my ilk” on the announcement of their astonishing, forthcoming new album GREIF last month, today the Swiss iconoclasts delight in flipping the table over delivering snarling, staccato new single “Clawing out.”
Ringleader Manuel Gagneux proclaims, “We like to surprise people. So of course after releasing our softest song to date with “to my ilk” we want to create some whiplash with “Clawing out”! Not satisfied with a mere heavy riffed song, we elected to borrow some elements from other musical styles to further the impact. Revel with us in righteous violence – justificatum malum factum.”
This week, ZEAL & ARDOR were also honoured to win a coveted, prestigious Swiss Music Prize, the highest national recognition in the field of music in Switzerland, at the award’s 11th edition. Designed to reward outstanding and innovative Swiss musical creation and bringing it into the limelight, candidates are selected from all regions of Switzerland across all musical disciplines.
Manuel divulges, “It’s rare that we get a prize that holds such esteem as this one does. Not just due to it being a national one, but because of the staggeringly talented alumni we have the privilege of calling our peers. It feels immensely validating and flattering. Sincerely: Thank you.”
After gathering tens of millions of streams and earning widespread critical acclaim, ZEAL & ARDOR prove as dynamic and dangerous as ever on fourth full-length, self-produced album, GREIF, set for release on August 23rd, 2024.
Rather than stagnating, basking in global acclaim garnered from three previous albums – Devil Is Fine [2017], Stranger Fruit [2018] and Zeal & Ardor [2022] – Manuel opted to shake things up for GREIF. Instead of creatively flying solo again, this time he welcomed his bandmates into the studio, featuring three voices for the first time and emboldening the sound from every angle. As such, the musicians – Tiziano Volante [guitar], Marc Obrist [vocals], Denis Wagner [vocals], Lukas Kurmann [bass], and Marco Von Allmen [drums] – spread their wings alongside him. Decamping to Marc’s studio Hutch Sounds in Switzerland, the record came to life in just five months.
“We’ve really evolved into a tight-knit unit,” explains Marc. “Before Zeal & Ardor, we were basically strangers, but we’re like a little family now. Each member brings his own unique flavor to the mix, and we all try to make Manuel’s songs better in our own way. The most interesting part for me was the new approach of how we work together in the studio.”
“I wanted to expand upon what we had and introduce new colors,” Manuel continues. “There are angry and accusatory moments, but there’s also some solace and happiness. I’m widening the palette of colors we have to paint with. These are avenues we haven’t tried.”
GREIF is available to pre-order now on CD, transparent vinyl, and digitally.
“We invite listeners to hear the full spectrum of the different sides and sounds that make Zeal & Ardor,” Tiziano leaves off. “There are some gorgeous moments, but it packs in a lot of intensity and charm. In Manuel’s songwriting and the process with every member, there’s a certain intentionality as well as an element of randomness and accident. I can’t wait to see people’s reactions.”
ZEAL & ARDOR are gearing up for some extensive touring, which includes headline dates, festival performances, and several shows as special guests alongside experimental folk troupe HEILUNG. They return to the UK for one headline show at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on September 22nd, 2024.
