Zola Simone Shares a “Sun Shower” of Emotions in Her Latest Single “What It Feels Like”
Simone sits peacefully in an open field, her closed eyes conveying the serenity of the scene. Photo courtesy of Emily Gardner
Despite her age, 19-year-old indie pop artist Zola Simone attains an impressive following in the Boston music scene. The New England native recently won the Boston Music Awards title as "Best New Artist" and had her song “Easy” featured in the Netflix original series “Atypical.”
Simone started sharing her music in 2016 when she was only 13 years old. She always felt drawn to music, relaying her parents' joke that she “walked out of the womb making music.” Writing poetry in elementary school presented itself as the artist’s first introduction to creative writing, which she later transitioned to songwriting.
Simone says her career began once she joined the Boston collective B4 Records, an organization focused on youth empowerment in music. The collective provided her with the resources and support she needed in the early stages of her music journey. Through the experience, she collaborated with a range of different artists while gaining great insight into both the industry and her own creative process.
Simone frolicks gracefully in a field of dandelions, her dark clothing standing out amongst the blooming yellow flowers and other greenery. Photo courtesy of Emily Gardner
Not many 13-year-olds want to share their original music for the world to hear, but Simone was different. “It was something very subconscious. I never really paused to think, should I share this or not.” Simone continues, “I got bullied a lot growing up… instead of reverting back into my shell, I just started being myself harder. I think sharing all the parts of me really went into my music.”
By sharing so much of herself through music, Simone discussed how it can cause conflict in her life. “I've had shows that I performed at where the person that [the song] is about is in the audience.” Simone jokes.
Simone recently went through a breakup, causing her to receive some backlash from people in her life about potentially releasing music about the experience. Simone expresses that she isn’t letting the reservations of others hold her back, sharing “I'm not going to compromise my art. I'm not going to compromise any part of my identity and what I've gone through for somebody else's comfort.”
Simone continues to be vulnerable with her audience in her new single “What It Feels Like”, which is the first song on her upcoming concept EP. The song centers around first love and a queer relationship. “It's a queer love song,” Simon says, ”and queer love is very personal but universal at the same time.” Simone says the song pinpoints “small, very niche and specific feelings of what love feels like.”
“She’s a feat of nature / Something to see / She’s a sun shower, raining down on me”
Simone wanted this song to encompass what first love feels like. She says “[love] is very bright and light, but also intense and heavy. I think a sun shower is the perfect representation of that.”
Simone also writes about other queer love stories outside of her own experiences. The song “Easy,” featured in the series finale of the heartfelt comedy, delves into the relationship between characters Casey and Izzy from Izzy’s perspective. “I'm such a nerd when it comes to queer representation in any media, especially media that's genuinely good.” Simone shared the song online and it was noticed by members of the show. “I didn't hear anything for a couple months” Simone says, ‘but then I got an email around my birthday from a licensing group, and they were like, ‘We want to use one of your songs in a Netflix show.’”
The artist emphasizes that she wants her music to highlight media that center lesbian and woman-loving-woman relationships. “I feel like so often [lesbians] are side characters, and I really want there to be a chance for us to be the main characters and not have us get cancelled after one season.” Simone hopes to write for more projects with queer representation in the future, especially projects like “Heartstopper”, “The Last of Us” and “Euphoria.”
Whilst people wait for larger streaming platforms to provide that lesbian representation, Simone is happy to step in. This era of Simone’s music is defined by “really owning” her queer identity. The new era also displays a more “unified sound.” In the past, Simone experimented with a range of genres. Meshing R&B, pop and electronic music together felt “a bit all over the place” to Simone, but she feels she has really come into her own as an artist, finding a sound authentic to herself throughout the process.
Following the release of “What It Feels Like,” Simone will be playing at Boston’s SoFar Music Festival. She will also begin her studies at Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU this fall and is excited to cultivate a community in New York. Simone teases her plan to release more singles later this year, but right now her main focus is set on her approaching EP.
To keep up with Zola Simone you can find her on Spotify and Instagram.