Highland Park–based songwriter zzzahara’s debut solo album Liminal Spaces is slated to drop 10 days before Halloween, so it makes sense that the record’s early singles are steeped in the horrors of relationships past. Channeling the now-familiar scuzzy sounds of the songwriter’s prior singles, the latest sample of the LP “Cupid’s Out Tonight” is a playfully bitter fantasy about a less-than-helpful evil cousin of cupid.
“I think it was around Valentine’s Day when me and my producer Collin started working on the track,” zzzahara recalls. “I had seen a cupid graphic online and thought it would be funny if cupid was something like Krampus. Envisioning cupid as this winged boy who shoots an arrow with the intention of giving you a partner from hell.”
Lyrics about being haunted and/or hunted are barely discernible throughout the track as razor-sharp guitar riffs dominate the soundscape, yet a Cole Santiago–directed music video helps shine a light on some of the single’s themes. “Cole thought it would be scary to have the ‘partner from hell’ kidnap me and push me around in a shopping cart,” the songwriter adds. “Playfully threatening to push the shopping cart in traffic, down a hill, and lastly into a dead-end zone. I’ve always had lots of love for horror and sci-fi, so this was perfect for me. Reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode. The hopeless romantic met with situational irony and horror.”
Check it out below, and pre-order the album here before it drops October 21 via Lex Records.
