Zedd Says His Next Album is "Taking Forever," Speaks on Hearing Loss

As arguably pop music's hottest producer of the moment, dominant EDM architect Zedd sets the standard for just how ubiquitous dance music and culture become in the mainstream with each collaboration. Thus, his recent conversation with Billboard regarding new singles, his health and his forthcoming artist album is ultra important, and also very telling insofar as issues and concerns in EDM at-present.

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Complex Original

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As arguably pop music's hottest producer of the moment, dominant EDM architect Zedd sets the standard for just how ubiquitous dance music and culture become in the mainstream with each collaboration. Thus, his recent conversation with Billboard regarding new singles, his health and his forthcoming artist album is ultra important, and also very telling insofar as issues and concerns in EDM at-present.

Regarding new pop productions:

Though pop stars "hit him up all the time now," he states regarding his current chart-topping collaborative muse Ariana Grande that, "[they] played a show together a few moths ago and [he] just loved her voice. It was amazing. So when the opportunity to do something came up, [he and his team] jumped. That was a no-brainer." He revealed nothing of any concrete new singles that top-40 should be watching out for, but regarding the process of choosing a vocalist, he says that it's "strictly about the voice." As well, regarding artists asking for his productions, he says that he'll sometimes "[make] a great track that doesn't quite fit [his] own album, so [ he opens] it up for other people to work with." Magnanimously, he'd "always rather have someone else benefit from a song than throwing it away."

Regarding his health and rumors of hearing loss:

Zedd says his hearing loss was from "a combination of stress and not getting enough sleep and so on." Continuing, he says, "Go figure. But it’s all good now." Related, when Avicii is shutting down live touring due to his gallbladder surgery not healing correctly and Zedd can't hear due to stress, maybe there's a bigger issue of giving top producers/artists a better work/life balance that needs to be addressed. When Zedd says (regarding his lucrative sets at XS Nightclub in Las Vegas), "I literally stay in the studio until 9 p.m., hop on a plane and fly over to get on stage by midnight. That way I can still get a full studio day in," it certainly sounds like the issues that affected his hearing aren't necessarily going away any time soon.

Regarding his forthcoming artist album:

Zedd "[honestly] has no idea yet" who he's working with, and says "[the album] is taking forever." Continuing, he says that "It’s hard to find time to sit down and focus on [the album]. [He's] written most of the songs but the production process is long for [him] – making them sound the way [he wants] them to sound, finding the right vocalists, and so on." There's a possibility mentioned of "[putting] out a single or two in the next six months or so," and of the possibility of working with "Stay The Night" vocalist Hayley Williams again or with rock bands Muse and Silverchair, but he acknowledges "[needing] to get off the road for a little while" to make all of this occur.

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