It’s here. The song we’ve been waiting for. Moody Moscow-born singer-songwriter TZAR has dropped a new single called none other than, wait for it … “Fuccboi Anthem.” The smoking vocals over retro ’80s-inspired instrumentals come together to give you the perfect song to break up with your man to. It’s a new year and it’s time to let all of that go. She sings, “It’s too late now to apologize,” because it’s true, we are over you already.
This song is to be listened to in the shower, in the car with the sunroof open, at the beach in February. Or you can just sing it straight into your fuccboi’s face. Watch out for TZAR, now based in California, because we hope to find her shimmering all over the stage soon. We got to talk to the glittery gorgeous musician about moving to America, her iconic style, and, of course, writing her latest single “Fuccboi Anthem.” Look no further. We’ve got everything you need to know right here.
Tell me about your transition of moving from Moscow to California. What are some of the cultural differences?
I moved to California when I was 7 or so. It was definitely a whirlwind at that age especially given that I knew no English, and even though I felt I was moving into this shiny new place where everybody wanted to be I definitely felt torn away from my family and friends that I had grown up around in Moscow. Culturally, California and Moscow are really different. Moscow feels almost like New York in the way it’s such a huge city and the vibe there is much more straightforward, no bullshit, and super real. Lastly, I think there are a lot more things in common than you’d expect between Moscow and California. The people in the States (or at least the media) often paint the Russian culture and people in a really poor light and in my experience as a whole, everyone there is actually super warm and genuine.
What inspired“Fuccboi Anthem?” How long did it take to write?
The inspiration behind “Fuccboi Anthem” was an experience with some dude I had been talking to that really just led to me having to reflect on why I choose such terrible romantic partners. The producer and co-writer on the record was someone I hadn’t seen in a while and basically when we got on a session via Zoom I was just catching him up on my life and started going in about the situation I found myself in. After that initial session, I was driving in my car kind of reminiscing on the situation with this dude, and I just got so heated that I remember just slamming my steering wheel and being like, “God what a FUCCBOI! It’s like he needs his own anthem.” And the song itself took about an hour to fully write after I came up with the “Fuccboi Anthem” concept in my car.
How would you describe your sound and style? How does it translate to your music?
My sound and style is always evolving and traveling. I’m a music nerd at heart so my musical inspirations oscillate between like ’70s Arabic-disco to Kacey Musgraves to Connan Mockasin. I really enjoy going into wherever the music leads, whichever genre that might be. At this stage though, I’m heavily exploring my deep love and appreciation for pop music in which I have a lot of roots — I used to listen to a ton of ABBA and Boney M. and Queen as a kid so it’s definitely been around since the very time I could interpret sound. I really prefer pop that intrigues and kind of throws you for a loop — takes you by surprise so to speak. I think people like Robyn, Lykke Li, Doja Cat, and Ashnikko among so many others all do that really well.
Who are some of your musical icons?
Robyn, Tangerine Dream, Portishead, ABBA, Whitney Houston, J Dilla, Imogen Heap, Nicki and the Dove, Prince, James Blake, Queen…honestly I could go on forever, but these are just a few off the top of my head.
What can we expect from TZAR in 2021?
A bunch of music dropping. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been working on and hopefully *soon* be able to go on tour and play my music live!!!