ZHU releases anticipated third LP, ‘DREAMLAND 2021’

Recorded during lockdown, the Grammy-nominated artist has dropped his third studio album, DREAMLAND 2021, via Astralwerks.

DREAMLAND 2021 evokes communal feelings of the dancefloor, its songs oozing warmth during a night dancing with your closest friends.

The album features a variety of guests such as pop singer Yuna, R&B star Tinashe, house producer Channel Tres, alt-pop artist Arctic Lake, among others.

The producer has also released visualizers for all 12 tracks of the album. You can watch all of them via YouTube below.

ZHU says,

“You can’t generate the same kind of community and connection without other people. The lights, the music, the volume, the dancing. Electronic music is an experiential thing.”

He explains,

“DREAMLAND 2021 is about looking forward and creating a version of the future we want to exist in.” 

In the track, ‘Distant Lights’, the final verses of the song embodies the theme and statement of the album.

“I don’t believe that music, dancing, the freedom of expression will be suppressed for much longer. They can’t—that’s against human nature.”

The album features lead single ‘ONLY’, hailed by Stereogum as a “dark electronic pop track built around reverberating keyboard arpeggios and an increasingly frenetic thump.”

‘Sky Is Crying’, which has over three million global streams since March, features Yuna as guest collaborator with Billboard praising the tune, “Zhu has always been a vessel for the dark and surreal, and… ‘Sky Is Crying’ meets an age of hope and despair with somber groove.”

On ‘Yours’ with UK artist Arctic Lake, both artists sing about the uneasy tension between love in the moment and the aching for love everlasting.

With fans enjoying his new 12-track record, ZHU is scheduled to perform six sold-out DREAMROCKS shows at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in May.

The shows are one of the major events to take place since COVID-19 put a halt to live music venues around the world.

ZHU is also scheduled to perform at numerous festivals later this year, including ARC, III Points and Outside Lands.

Listen to DREAMLAND 2021 via Spotify.

Photo credit: Joey Vitalari