After much anticipation and hype, Zara Larsson’s fourth album, Venus, has officially arrived and she’s checking in with Audacy’s Mike Adam to chat all about it.
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Sitting down for a conversation at the Hard Rock Hotel New York, Zara discussed the decisions to go nude on the album cover, and reason she named the album Venus.
“It was a decision that I made because I wanted it to feel very timeless and ethereal, very inspired by The Birth of Venus, the painting. And there’s something… very timeless about not having clothes or any type of fashion and just being in the skin you’re born in, and kind of like Goddess-y. That’s what I wanted to capture, a bit of Goddess-y vibes. I’m glowing a little bit, it’s a picture, but it feels like a painting, and I just felt like, why not?”
Originally planning to name the album something different, Zara had a different album cover “that was done like a year ago.” But once the project took a different direction and was titled Venus, “that cover just did not fit.”
“I think bodies are just very natural and neutral, y’know?,” Zara added. “And even though I do find the cover quite sexy, being naked doesn’t have to be affiliated with like sexiness… it’s just like existing in like your skin.”
The decision to veer the album in a different direction, and change the title to Venus came about after Zara finished the song of the same name. “I think it ties everything together quite nicely because, the album or just my music in general is a lot about love,” Zara explained. “It’s a lot about different perspectives of looking at love. It could be platonic love, I have a song ‘On My Love,’ which is my sister, which is like one of the most important loves in my life. And I think Venus who is the Goddess of love, just encapsulated that quite beautifully.”
“Venus is such a strong concept in a way, I really like that,” Zara added, “and also the song ‘Venus’ itself is basically a song to love itself or to realize like ‘wow I didn’t know love could be what I’m experiencing now.’ Like what I’ve experienced before has been completely different from this, and now it’s like this new thing and… I’m also releasing this album through my label, I feel like I’m stepping into like womanhood in a different way. I feel grown now, I really do, and I’ve been in industry for quite some time. But now I’m like, I make my own decisions, I’m an adult.”
Zara and Mike also went on to discuss the singer’s booked and busy schedule as she prepares to head out on her UK tour. “It’s been a lot… cause there’s a lot of new material… which is so exciting. I mean this is really the first time in a very long time I’m gonna go out on the road and do my new music. Like I couldn’t do it with Poster Girl cause it was in the middle of the pandemic. I did some festivals the year after that, but this is really like, it’s fresh, it’s new.”
When it comes to getting things just right, Zara noted, “I feel like there’s never enough time. I would love to have even more time and just get it like, so good. But at least I get to do a lot of practice runs before."
"I’m you know, I’m not gonna say anything,” and then she kinda did, adding, “but I might have something coming for the US later.” Then a bit later also adding, “I'm going hopefully on a world tour, everywhere.”
Also delving into her social media behavior, presence, and etiquette, that somehow always seems to be under fire. When it comes to all that, FYI, Zara is very much aware, yet still… “I can’t shut up.”
“I think also I look at a lot of stuff that I post or just you know say as I’m not that serious, I don’t take myself very seriously. And then sometimes it travels to an audience that I’m like, ‘oooh we shouldn’t have reach that,'” she said with a laugh.
Another thing, Mike mentioned, that he’s sure Zara is very proud, and jokingly added, “I don’t wanna take credit for it, but we did talk about it last time.” Her debut album, 1, is now available on streaming services. “How does that feel?," Mike inquired.
“It feels amazing,” Zara replied, “that was also one of the reasons why I was super happy about owning my masters now, is that I could just do whatever I want with them. And I figured, of course I want to put it out and let people hear it because it is such a big part of my artistry, and who I am. and how I started out.”
“So now the people… if they’re interested in me and my music, can go in and really hear my journey from the start. It feels incredible because the songs on there, like to me, they are just as fresh and amazing, I feel like it aged so well.” Zara also went on to boast that the album will be “turning 10 this year in October, which is just insane.” Adding, that she’s “so happy so proud and hopefully people will listen to it and get to know me even more.”
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Zara also talked about her friendship with RAYE both in and out of the studio, and to that we say — ummm, where’s the collab? She also chatted about the 2024 GRAMMYs and how it was such a celebration of women, and expressed she’s a “huge fan of Victoria Monét,” who she’d also absolutely love to collaborate with, going on to add a few more names to that list including Dua Lipa, Tyla, and Troye Sivan.
And while Zara’s very much focused on all thing Venus, she did offer up a few thought she has when it comes to her next album. To hear it all, listen to the entire conversation above.