ZZ Ward - Mother (2024)

Originality, authenticity and innovation, ZZ Ward embodies these concepts bound with a raw passion for music. Inspired by her father’s record collection, Ward’s love of music ignited a flame in her heart and by the age of 12, she was performing blues music. The passion for blues remained a smouldering ember in her career; however, industry demands pressured her to delve into different genres as a young artist. Yet, the blues fire could not be contained with a blast of rebelliousness raging in her current work.

Already established as a prominent force on a national level, ZZ Ward turned heads internationally with her 2012 debut album Til The Casket Drops. Across critically acclaimed singles and albums, Ward has traipsed through various genres lilting to a sonic ebb and flow. While she explored genres from Americana, indie-rock, indie-pop and alternative rock, blues slivers through like a shimmering thread in the dark. Following the pop-tinged ‘Best Friends’ and hard rock ‘WTH Did I Do?’, ZZ Ward shifts entirely to roots blues fanning her flame for the style with ‘Mother’ – a personal anthem capturing the soul of the blues as she turns a corner in her life into motherhood.

Recorded and produced with Ryan Spraker, ‘Mother’ is a nostalgic drag to vintage blues of the 60s and 70s. Combining bold vocals with blues guitar, a backing piano and Ward’s inimitable vocals, ‘Mother’ is three minutes of toe-tapping, heart-breaking, spine-chilling music. For me, the elements that really “hit you in the face” is the searing guitar with gruff vocals; however, just as there is a rebellious brashness to the track, it is a confident embrace as you sway along to an all-encompassing, suffocating (but very good suffocating) spark of sound.

“I didn’t plan to write a blues song about motherhood, it just sort of happened naturally. I’ve always written to get through things in life. Suddenly, I was faced with a new joy that’s 24/7 with no breaks, and that’s what I wrote about… when you get tested, you discover who you are, and this song comes from a feeling of empowerment.” – ZZ Ward on ‘Mother’

TRACKLIST

1. ZZ Ward - Mother
2. ZZ Ward - My Baby Left Me
3. ZZ Ward - Put The Gun Down (Dirty Sun Version)
4. ZZ Ward - I Have No One
5. ZZ Ward - Lil Darlin (Dirty Sun Version)
6. ZZ Ward - Cadillac Man