Zilla With Her Eyes Shut

French pop experimentalist Zilla is back! With a name change to Zilla With Her Eyes Shut and new single 'Cut Me Boy'. The Parisian producer, singer-songwriter explains: “I decided to add the epithet ‘with her eyes shut’ because the music that I create revolves around the unconscious mind. It started with a fascination for discovering my inner self, who lives in my dreams, who lives when I close my eyes and lose control. I want to explore the possibility of the inner world questioning my conscious reality. My music is my way of translating my dreams, how they feel and how they sound. By letting go of fear of the dark - whether it is in the night or whether it is mental or physical pain - I learn how to embrace it. My new material is mainly about overcoming obstacles in an empowered, determined, fun way”.

Zilla With Her Eyes Shut makes idiosyncratic compositions that are rooted in deeply personal experiences and constructed of samples from objects symbolic to her unique stories and events. ‘Cut Me Boy’ is a lilting slow jam of warped vocals atop a structure of cryptic beats and sound design that is fast becoming the exclusive domain of this singular artist.

“The track is inspired by a dysfunctional love where you lose yourself into complete denial after rejection. Coming to terms with betrayal and diving deep into the pain. Nearly in a sadistic way but mostly in an explorative way. Entering this whole new dimension, owning the despair, loneliness and depression. It is thanks to this act of courage that you can become who you must be in order to survive. There is beauty in learning to embrace heartache. And when it is over, you become a better person”

For ‘Cut Me Boy’ she used a Stanley knife, liquid iron, rocks, elastic bands and an eye mask. “The Stanley knife represents self-harm but also cutting whoever I used to be. Rocks are the assault, the heaviness of my heart and weight in my stomach. The eye mask is denial but also diving into the world of pain. The structure of the song is also influenced by this the theme of cutting and drowning (the lower voice sounds like I’m singing under water).”