It takes a lot for songwriters to put themselves out there capturing attention and staying on listener’s raiders. And Jeremy Zucker has the power with his honesty and vulnerability as a singer-songwriter to pull on heartstrings with each release.
love is not dying, is the highly-anticipated debut album from American multi-talented musical artist Jeremy Zucker.
Kicking off the album, ‘still’ opens the album with wonderful expectations on what’s to come and expected.
From the get-go, Zucker brings the listener on an emotional journey with many years shed while creating blissful happiness getting goosebumps.
As the record progresses, ‘not ur friend’ is a song about cutting a toxic person out of your life, produced in a fun way that makes it an enjoyable listen. The lyrics are blunt with dynamic instrumentation that really sells the song that puts emphasis on his voice.
Another stand out track is ‘julia’ which has breathing space when listening to this track, finding him singing in a poetic way expressing his emotions beautifully. There is a sense of closure to it almost like Zucker has a self-realisation moment that in turn encapsulates emotions that overall come up throughout the album.
Moving forward, ‘always, i’ll care’ is a noteworthy, thoughtful track from Zucker. It opens with light piano keys before introducing further instrumentation. He sings authentically and sweetly on the track as an ode to someone special as he reminisces on their time together. It’s an excellently penned story that has a fascinating rhythmic guitar, drums, and keyboard work making it a successful addition to the album.
The final track, ‘oh, mexico’ is a mellow addition that finds him closing doors and moving on rather than him keep going through similar situations that end up exhausting himself. He’s unsatisfied with the gloominess that surrounds him. He wants to go somewhere safe and peaceful letting go and finding happiness. The instrumentation is underplayed as his voice delivers the song solely before the guitar and electric piano come back generating a feeling of surrendering.
love is not dying, is full of the woes and hopefulness of being young during this generation. Throughout the collection of tracks, Zucker perfectly made a connection with his music to the listeners making this a stand-out debut. He appears optimistic on this record with themes of the aforementioned relatable feelings in today's world but writes submissive lyrics singing with a tone that keeps the journey moving.
The 13-track album is an intensely personal collection of tracks. There are catchy lyrics and creative productions combining with his vocal abilities that are on point throughout the album blending in perfectly with the effortless harmonies that collide well overall. He is thoughtful with his musical craft and storytelling that makes his music completely likable.
Zucker’s music is familiar, yet foreign. The simplicity of how he expresses his passion through music is wonderful as he creates infectious energy. The indie-electronica infused music with a mix of synths, digitized beats, and electric guitars expose his talents even further.
The tracks fit well as individuals and together overall creating an inspiring and worthy debut album making it a memorable listen from the first play. From tracks like 'still' to 'oh, mexico', he gets inside the heads of his fanbase and asks things they're longing to question, making him appear as an equal than a higher figure with celebrity status. The adoration of his professionalism as an artist elevated more on this record for his new chapter in his career even further with excellence.
There's a vibe of romantic melodrama felt throughout the record that feels simple with its arrangements drawing the listener in for more. Between his voice and lyrics mixed with the combination of synth-waves and strings, it truly shows Zucker put a lot of time and effort into the creation of, love is not dying. The overall album hits differently from his previous work; this is a phenomenal masterpiece that is mesmerising.
After signing a major label record deal with Republic Records, Zucker released some breakthrough singles of ‘talk is overrated’ featuring blackbear, ‘all the kids are depressed’, and ‘comethru’. love is not dying, comes after Zucker released his debut extended-play, Beach Island, in 2015, overall releasing eight EP’s including the collaborative project, brent, with Chelsea Cutler that was released in 2019.
Words by Danielle Holian