Zoe Wees On Her Debut Album ‘Therapy’
Samantha Colleran, December 2023
Zoe Wees is a 21 year old German native making a name for herself in the pop world. Garnering over three billion streams and counting, Zoe is only getting started. Her breakout single “Control” quickly reached gold and platinum status, she’s performed on some of the biggest late night shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show, and Late Late with James Corden. For Zoe, writing and recording music is therapy, which is why her debut album is named exactly that. Pulling from different moments over the past four years of her life, Zoe is authentic and vulnerable on all 20 songs that make up the emotional storytelling album.
One of Zoe’s biggest inspirations is Billie Eilish. Zoe praises her for being so open about everything she goes through, whether it’s good or bad. Even though she’s one of the most famous artists of our time, you feel as if you know her despite having never met her, something Zoe admires about her. Other artists she admires are Tate McRae and James Arthur.
In order to make her songs as vulnerable as possible, Zoe doesn’t think of them being shared when she begins writing. Many of the things she talks about throughout the album are things she’s never shared with anyone, like her deeper feelings of anxiety and mental health struggles. Writing freely without thinking of anyone hearing or reading what she’s written has made it easier for Zoe to discuss these feelings, and she hopes that her openness will allow people to feel less alone in their experiences. After all, Zoe believes that being honest and authentic in your artistry will in turn connect you to a genuine audience.
Although she’s still new to the game, Zoe is confident in how much she’s grown as an artist since she decided to pursue music full time. She is constantly getting stronger as a songwriter and has learned a lot since she began. Every song on the album started off on the piano, with Zoe coming up with a melody first then writing lyrics over it with the help of her team. Most of her music is on the sadder side, even the songs with more upbeat production styles, but there are songs like “Less Of A Woman” that show a more hopeful and positive side of Zoe’s music.
In order to capture the main topic of the album, Zoe opted to make the album cover a simple photo of herself dressed in neutral colors sitting in a chair. She prefers simplicity when it comes to her artistic delivery, and keeping herself as the focus of the cover as opposed to a more busy design allows listeners to have a better understanding of what the album will be focusing on.
Zoe hopes listeners can see just how emotional and down to Earth this album is when they listen. Standout tracks for her are the previously mentioned “Less Of A Woman” which is an empowering song about how Zoe came to love the skin she’s in, and “21 Candles”, written about her father who she didn’t grow up with in her life. The song is chilling, recorded in one take you can feel the emotion behind every word Zoe belts.
If you’d like to keep up with Zoe, you can follow her on Instagram and TikTok, and you can catch up on her YouTube series called “Therapy Session” where she talks about different mental health topics in order to make people feel less alone in their struggles. Be sure to stream Therapy on your preferred streaming service, and drop your favorite song in the comments!