The Final Departure by Zi: A Journey of Raw, Melancholic Reflections
- by Adam Bailey
- in Featured
In an era where the music industry is saturated with ephemeral trends and fleeting sounds, "the final departure" emerges as a profound testament to the enduring power of storytelling through music. The last of the trilogy, solely written and produced by Zi, is a heartbreaking yet hopeful testament to the experience of life and a journey of living with ambivalence. It reflects on love, loss, and longing with a profound honesty and vulnerability.
With the final departure, Zi blends elements of folk, shoegaze, and ambient music to create a soundscape that is noisy but otherworldly, familiar yet different enough from one song to another. Each song is melodically similar, but there is an intention as it weaves together to tell a story. Emotionally, the EP is full of high highs and low lows, like an analogy of life itself. And it even shows the raw, real side of life, with recordings of chants, whispers, screams, breathing, mistakes and talking too. But at the core of his music, the voice, the guitar, and the words have always been the primary instrument.
Lyrically, the final departure is a tour de force, with each song offering lyrical depth and nuance. “Love is a cure/And a stubborn disease that refuses to heal,” he sings in Growing up love song. As he remarks his life as loveless, he takes the blame for it, apologizing to it: “I’m sorry for everything/You could’ve been anything.” It is a deep self-reflection that takes responsibility forone’s own actions. In Living on, the final song of the EP, Zi is at his most personal. “Sometimes I ask myself, ‘What am I even living for?’/And I still don’t know why/But I choose life.” He makes the decision to continue.
“I don’t know what I’m expecting, but everyone will have their own interpretations,” he says. “But in life, change is inevitable, and I want people to know that they can make it through whatever they’re facing, even if they don't have the courage to do it.”
Ultimately, the final departure is a remarkable achievement. With its mesmerizing soundscapes, thought-provoking lyrics, and virtuosic performances, it transcends boundaries and touches the very depths of the human soul. “I’ll look at the sky/And I’ll still be alive,” he sings, at last.
“the final departure” is now available on all major platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Music.
