Zach By Zach!
Pop Artist Zach Benson releases new album "Hopeless Romantic" and provides a track by track commentary

Photos by Maggie Fraser

“hopeless, romantic.” is a love story. It’s a tale of falling out of love and then falling back in love again. The eight track album is more vulnerable, uplifting, heartbreaking, and exciting as pop artist Zach Benson has ever been. Each song provides a unique perspective into Benson’s hopelessly romantic world. Sonically, the album ranges from fun and dancey to raw and honest as hell, which makes it the perfect soundtrack for both high-energy bedroom dance parties and intimate late-night drives.

“I’ve had so much fun working on these tracks over the last year-and-a-half and I really hope that anyone who listens feels inspired to get mushy with the people that they love.” - Zach Benson

As a longtime fan and supporter of Zach, the Q Review is thrilled to have watched, listened and at times been part of his journey in music and community. He's a giving, thoughtful and wildly talented artist and we're thrilled to be able to bring his music to new audiences.

Sometimes you just need to know when to get the hell out of the way and give the artist space to talk about their own work. So that's what we did and now in his own words, Zach Benson delivers a track by track commentary on his exciting new album, "Hopeless Romantic".

​This is Zach by Zach.

When U Leave
“when u leave” is one of the first songs I wrote when I first started taking music seriously, back in like 2017. I think I wrote it around the same time I wrote “Kissing as the Cars Pass By.” I got the idea in a geology class I was taking in college, and I remember running out to get to my apartment and write the full thing before I lost the inspiration. I’ve kept it in my drafts for a while, but I kept re-recording it or experimenting with the production on-and-off until late last year, when I really felt like I had gotten it right.

The song’s about the feeling insecure in a relationship. It’s about starting to think about what will happen when your relationship ends, and the endless cycle of thoughts that start to pile up on themselves. I’m really proud of how the production mirrors that, starting out really intimate and sweet and then getting bigger and bigger until it breaks.

It’s definitely a different style than anything I’ve put out before. I wanted it to open the album because it really draws you in and starts to paint a picture of what’s to come — I’m about to get my heart broken and we’re all about to take a little journey of self-discovery.

Everything Reminds Me of U
Since this song’s been out for over a year, I was really debating putting it on the album. But lyrically and sonically, it really fits in with the story I’m trying to tell throughout the album. Plus hearing this song after “when u leave” really makes you pay attention to the lyrics to that track and feel the heartbreak a little more, like all my fears in “when u leave” are coming true in “everything…”

The production was basically me grabbing parts from all of my favorite songs at the time — the bass sound from “Gone” by Charli XCX, the overall vibe of “Number One Fan” by MUNA, the choppy house piano from “Mine” by Slayyyter, the lyrical themes from “Beach Community” by Joyce Manor This song has my favorite production out of any of my previous songs, and I can’t wait to start performing this at shows again. I need to feel people bouncing along to that bass!

Pretty Boy
Last summer, I got to help write and produce an album for a friend of mine named Adi Wineland. We spent our weekends in my super humid bedroom creating songs for him, but I became super fixated on one we started called “pretty boy.” I formulated a master plan to try to get Adi to let me have the song for myself, but the next day he pretty much said “This feels like it’s your style, so if you want it please take it.” So I did.

We wrote “pretty boy” about this fantasy of telling the boy-next-door how you really feel before you move away forever. This song took so long to finally all come together — I had a bunch of different people try to help out with the lyrics, and Lex Bowler really crushed it with the vocal production. 

Kitchen
Same with “everything reminds me of u”, I was conflicted to rehash a song that’s been out for over a year, but it’s sooo necessary for the album narrative! Basically, after getting over a breakup and starting to fall for the boy-next-door, there might be a raunchy little hook-up moment that happens. And we love a kitchen for that moment!

Even after this one has been out for so long, I’m still obsessed with the electric piano sound and those drums. It always reminds me of driving in Harrisonburg, Virginia listening to Whitney Houston and Phil Collins in the winter.

Mischief (with Gregory Dillon)
I think “mischief!” might be one of my favorite songs I’ve ever gotten to work on. Writing the song with Greg back in February was so much fun, and I could not stop listening to the track after we made the demo. I legitimately must have tinkered with the Logic file at least every other day until it was released.

This song’s about sneaking out and going on late-night adventures with the person, or people, that you love most. I’m not a very “sneak-out-and-cause-trouble” kind of guy, and I never really have been, but this song definitely reminds me of late nights in college I’ve had where I’ve finally let loose a little bit.

New Year's Eve
Narratively, “new year’s eve” is about the point in a relationship when you look over at someone and realize you love them. I’ve had a few of these moments, but the one that inspired this song did happen while I was having a blast with a boy I loved on New Year’s Eve.

I was really inspired by hyperpop acts like 100 gecs and Hannah Diamond when making this song, and since then I’ve fallen more and more in love with the genre, especially with music by people like AlexZone and wilkjayy and moistbreezy. Maybe this is a sound I revisit in future tracks and collaborations, I don’t know!!

​Always Want You Closer
I wrote “always want you closer” about a week after I moved from Virginia to New York, around October of last year. My boyfriend and I (who are still going strong, hello!) decided to stay together despite the distance and see how things would work out. This song felt like a little love note, a reminder that no matter what, I’ll always be here and I’ll always want you.

Sonically, I was really inspired by Caroline Polachek, Fleetwood Mac, Maggie Rogers. All are able to create these magical but timeless moments in their music that I really wanted to replicate.

I showed Manny Camargo (aka Yavin) the track while he was staying at my apartment a few days after I wrote the verses, and he came up with the chorus melody and some of the lyrics right on the spot. Homie is a melodic GENIUS and I can’t thank him enough. Anyways stream Hot.

Staying Home
So after all of the cutesy romantic stuff has run its course throughout the album, there still exists that anxiety about the future, about myself, about what others may think about me. I wrote this song at the beginning of this year (before we were all mandated to stay home lmao) just about how I deal with that anxiety — by laying in bed and shutting myself off from friends.

Despite the downer nature of this track, I really love how this song makes the album feel very full circle. “when u leave” talks about the anxieties of being in an uncertain relationship, but “staying home” talks about how to deal with anxieties while feeling loved and cared for. There’s some sonic references to “everything reminds me of u”, and I especially love that the last line of this song is “You don’t have to shut the door,” which directly contradicts the first line of “when u leave”.

​And then there’s a bonus track about wanting to be with Timothee Chalemet. So that’s fun.

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