AFTER nine years without releasing an album, Zedd finally released his third album, Telos, on August 30.
The 10-track album features guest appearances from John Mayer, Muse, Remi Wolf, Bea Miller and more, and its title has a double meaning for the Grammy winner.
“Another meaning of Telos is ‘the end,’ and I, for a moment, thought maybe this would be the last piece of music I would ever release,” Zedd tells PEOPLE of the Greek term.
“I was completely exhausted, I was burned out, and musically I felt like I had poured my entire soul into this album and had nothing else to say.”
Though the “Clarity” artist went nearly a decade between albums, she stayed busy during that time, touring consistently and scoring several major hits, including “Stay” with Alessia Cara and “The Middle” with Maren Morris and Grey.
When creating the new album, Zedd set out to create a project with a narrative connecting each song and a unique sound that blends orchestral and electronic genres. “I really wanted this album to be perfect, and that took a lot of hard work,” he says.
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Luckily, he’s changed his mind since finishing Telos. “I’ve had a little bit of time to breathe,” he says. “I’ve started writing new music, so I’m happy to say it’s not over yet.”
The album is preceded by two singles, “Out of Time” with Miller and “Lucky” with Wolf — for which Zedd recently collaborated with Intel to create an interactive AI experience that brings the Telos cover to life.
After nearly releasing a full project without a title track, Zedd realized his fans wanted an early sneak peek and carefully selected the two songs to introduce the world of Telos.
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“‘Out of Time’ sets the tone. It’s the beginning of the album, and it really has a little bit of everything. There’s the theatrical elements, the drops, the really emotional, powerful vocals,” he explains. “I think ‘Lucky’ is more of the fun pop side of the album, and everything else on the album lives in between those two worlds.”
Making this album was a grueling process for Zedd, but the thought of nearly releasing Telos as a career finale is part of what makes this final project so satisfying to share with listeners.
“If you know something is going to be the last thing you do, you better make it perfect,” he said. “Part of the perfection I saw in this album came from feeling like, ‘This might be my legacy. I have to do exactly what I want to do with this album.'” (People/Z-3)
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