Zenesoul has spent the last few years carving out a space for herself through music that feels intimate, soulful and deeply personal. The Toronto-based artist has built her catalogue through a series of EPs and mixtapes, gradually developing a sound that moves between different shades of soul and R&B while remaining distinctly her own. With each release, she has become more comfortable trusting her instincts and allowing different sides of herself to exist within the same body of work. On Under the Same Sky, that growing sense of confidence takes shape across her debut album. Zenesoul explores love, heartbreak, self-discovery and the different seasons of life, bringing together a collection that feels both personal and expansive. From the warmth of “You Found Her” to the vulnerability of “Focused on Me” and “Bad Timing”, the album captures an artist becoming more assured in her voice. DigiMillennials caught up with Zenesoul to discuss Under the Same Sky, finding confidence in her sound, the stories behind the album and what she has learned about herself along the way.
Congratulations on Under the Same Sky. I really, really enjoyed the project. It felt so raw and emotional. I really loved it.
Zenesoul: Thank you.
How are you feeling now that the project is out?
Zenesoul: I feel great that it’s finally out. I’ve been holding onto it for over a year so it’s nice to finally see it out. Seeing it being received very well is really nice. Now it’s just go time: promote, promote, promote.
Exactly. And obviously, the project is going to speak for itself, so that’s amazing. The title is really beautiful, too. How did you land on that name?
Zenesoul: Thank you. Basically, I don’t even remember where it came from, but I remember just thinking, “Under the Same Sky.” That sounds really pretty. And then I started creating a whole concept around it.
I liked the fact that we’re all really going through similar things, just in different ways. I like how Under the Same Sky is all about connection and community. While building my album, I really wanted to focus on community and creating a body of work with multiple people, because I feel like that’s what an album is. An album is collaborative. Because I really wanted it to be something collaborative, I felt like Under the Same Sky was very fitting for that.
Also, I was having a hard time with my sound. I like to dibble and dabble into different things, even though they’re still soul. I used to be fearful of, “Oh, I don’t want to release this. It might be like, ‘Oh, that’s not what Zenesoul normally does”. But then I got to a place where I was like whatever I like is naturally me. In this one body and in this one sound of mine, it’s all still connected because they’re all still very much me. That was very fitting with Under the Same Sky.
Finding beauty in the weathers that we don’t like, or the seasons that we don’t like was a really big part of it. The title just was very fitting for so many different things I wanted to talk about.
I love that. And just to touch on this, how would you describe your sound right now?
Zenesoul: I would say it is honest, soft and sensual.
And I know you’ve released a few projects before, but correct me if I’m wrong, this is your first album?
Zenesoul: Yeah. I’ve released a lot of EPs and mixtapes, but this is my first album. I like to create large bodies of work, so some of them seem like album length, but they were EPs to me because I treated them like EPs and not an album. But this is the first time I actually said, “I’m releasing an album,” and I worked on creating an album.
What made you feel like this was the right time to make an album?
Zenesoul: I’ve been wanting to for a while, but I felt like the songs I was creating at the time were still not a reflection of my growth and where I could really take my sound. But then after I made the first song on the album, “You Found Her,” I felt like, “This is how I want Zenesoul to sound.” The fullness of “You Found Her,” the maturity of “You Found Her,” and the melodies. I just felt very right. From creating that, I felt like I was finally in a place where I had enough of a body of work that I could be proud to call my debut, and that’s kind of what started the project, to be honest.
How do you think you’ve grown as an artist from your earlier projects to this stage right now?
Zenesoul: I feel like I’ve grown a lot with my melody choices, my beat selections, and also with my harmonies, my backgrounds, and how I piece everything together. The way I tell my stories, I feel like I’ve grown so much to make it sound more like an artist that’s already out there, rather than an artist still figuring out her sound.
I know you started the project with “You Found Her.” Why was that the right song to open the album?
Zenesoul: I think it was the right song for two reasons. Actually, let’s say three reasons. Number one, because it’s the first song that I wrote that made me decide to do the album. Number two, I really wanted to start this album happy, on a good note. I wanted it to be easy to listen to off the bat. I didn’t want it to be too heavy. And number three was the way it was written.
In the beginning, it seems like I am saying to a man that he has found the right woman, which is me. Like, I am everything that he needs in a woman. But by the end of it, and when the album starts all over again, I feel like I was truly talking to myself and telling myself that I found her. I found my voice, I found my sound and I found the woman that I’ve been wanting to be. It was just so beautiful how it started off being about a relationship and stuff, but by the end of the album, it’s about myself. And I wanted it to circle back to still continue to be about myself.
Oh, I love that. Is that why it ended with “Under the Same Sky”? Because you ended back with the name of the title.
Zenesoul: Yes.
I wanted to touch on some songs that really stood out, like “Focus on Me.” I felt like that was very raw as it touches on someone coming in and out of your life, especially when you’re trying to focus on yourself. What inspired that song?
Zenesoul: Basically, I ended things with someone I was talking to . And after we ended things, he was checking in on me and these are things most people go through. Things have ended, and I’m the type where, when I say it’s done, it’s done. I’m not joking. But he messaged to check in on me and I was like, “Why”? To summarize, “Focus on Me” was to say, I’ve been focused on me. My time is not free. And if you really, truly want this, come with some substance, because I know that my love is safe. But if you’re not coming with that, don’t check in.
With “Bad Timing” that also feels very different emotionally. I wanted to know, what made you want to explore that kind of situation on the album as well?
Zenesoul: “Bad Timing” is actually a song I wrote years ago. There was just not a time where I felt ready to release it, especially because of the length of it. At that time in the past, it was like, “Oh, it’s too long. It’s too long.” Release songs that are two minutes and 30 seconds is maximum. That’s what it was in our ears as musicians.
But with this album, I wanted to be my true, authentic self, and I didn’t care if a song was going to be four minutes, five minutes long. “Bad Timing” felt right on this project. And it also felt right because it is something that other people go through. It’s not talked about quite often, how sometimes things end where no one is truly at fault. Those ones kind of hurt more, to be honest, because you can’t villainise anybody. You can’t say it was anybody’s fault. You can’t be upset. You just have to be in your emotions that it ended, and it could be a little bit difficult. I wanted to add that experience to the album because it’s an experience that’s not really touched on often.
The project is also very unique because I know there are four interludes on the project, and the names are quite interesting, like “The Sun” and “Rain.” Why did you include those? The names kind of represent Under the Same Sky, now that I think about it, but is there a reason why those interludes were included?
Zenesoul: Yes. I felt like the sun is important to be put in there because we do have happy seasons. Even though a lot of times we have really sad seasons, happy seasons do come. I definitely feel like when you’re in love, you are happy, and I want that feeling of happiness . So, the sun definitely needed to be there. I used to hate rain. But when you sit down and think about it, it’s very calming. It is what really gives the flowers and the plants what they need to grow. And we need it, everywhere needs it. I really wanted to include the rain because of the mindset I used to have for it versus what I have for it now.
The snow, I really wanted to reflect being Canadian and the fact that not everybody gets to experience snow, but when you do, it’s beautiful. I wanted to include something that shows there are things in our lives that not everyone is going to experience. But aside from those little things that not everyone’s going to experience or understand, there are a lot of things we do go through that other people can understand. We don’t have to feel like we’re the only ones experiencing or going through life alone. It might just be one small part that you feel like no one else understands, but there are other people in the world who understand it. Just not everybody. The snow was something I really wanted to include.
I wanted to include “Cloud” because I find sometimes when we’re going through heartbreak and stuff, before we can get to a place of clarity, of finding ourselves, we sometimes go through a place of having clouded judgement. Sometimes we might act out of character. We might not be our true, authentic selves at that moment. A lot of times we go through that at some point, and that’s why there are vices, and alcohol, and this and that. We’re clouded in the moment, trying to get past the rain so we can get to our sunny days.
I love the explanation for all four of them. And “I Am” was so sweet, especially towards the end. The messages was something I didn’t expect. What made you want to have those voices in the project? Because those are definitely the voices of loved ones to you, speaking to you. What made you want to include that in that track?
Zenesoul: I was having a hard time writing a second verse for “I Am.” I was struggling. I had the first verse, I had the hook. I was struggling with the second verse. Then one day, the second verse finally hit me. I was pretty much almost done with the album, and I was still struggling with this song. So, the second verse finally hit me, and I didn’t want to end it there. I’m like, “I need something more,” because I’m saying all the things that I am and so on, but something else that is very important to me is my community.
Sometimes we place love only on romantic love and forget that we are surrounded by love. It’s just not always romantic love. I really wanted to emphasise that in the project, and I really wanted to remind myself that even when I feel like I’m alone, I am actually truly loved. I just hit up my friends like, “Hey, guys, send a voice note of something you want to say to me.” And then they just did, and I just included that. I really wanted to do that because I wanted that reminder. And I felt like a lot of people also, even though they are pouring into me, I feel like other people listening to it will also be reminded that they are loved by other people as well.And to say that it’s not only romantic love that needs to pour into you.
I know you have only one feature on the song “Home”. What made that the right person to have on that song?
Zenesoul: Sunraae has such a beautiful voice, and I don’t know why, but whenever I think of self-love, I think of her. I think of her writing style. She hasn’t released any music yet, but I have heard things that she’s done in person. She’s a real sunshine, honestly. I really wanted to include her in the project. But when I first started creating music, I loved collaborating with other artists in the city, and I would get told, “Oh, you collaborate too much. You’re going to be seen as an artist that makes it because she collaborates with people.”These are the things people would say to me and everything. And I wanted it to be like, I don’t care.Because they would expect me to add an artist that is doing big things or an artist that basically would push my career. But I really wanted to uplift another artist that I think is amazing and show her that it’s possible for her to do it. I just felt like she was the right person for the song, to be honest. It just was perfect for it.
Finally, what do you hope people take away from this album?
Zenesoul: I hope people take away the fact that there’s a song in there for them, and that sometimes one season does not mean it has to go into the next season. Life is not always going to be the same your whole life. You will go through seasons, and that’s okay. But a lot of times, you go through the rough times just so that you can get to a better version of yourself. Every time you go through a rough time is to get to a better version of yourself. That’s basically what I wanted the album to represent, and to represent that we are really not alone in this life. It is hard to find your people, but there are people out there, even strangers, that see you. I hope I’m the stranger that people feel seen by.
I love that. And finally, what do you feel like you’ve understood about yourself a little bit since making this project?
Zenesoul: I think I’ve understood that, even though sometimes I feel like I’m not an artist who truly understands music. I am more of a free-flowing artist, I would say. And I’ve learned that that is actually okay. I’m so hard on myself about it, but it is actually okay. I can still create something beautiful that even people who are technical can see the beauty in it. I used to have a hard time collaborating with others when creating music. I would just create in my car by myself. Over this project, now it’s like, it’s hard for me to create by myself. Now I want to be with somebody. I want to be with the producer as we’re creating the music. So, anything that I do, it is possible. I just have to be consistent and keep trying at it,
