LA-based pop/rock/electronic singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Zee Machine has recently released his sophomore album Can I Be Honest…?. The highly anticipated record comes from a very deep and emotionally intense place that explores themes of love and subsequent heartbreak. The artist wanted to make his own version of a ‘breakup record’ and to explore the suffering we feel after getting our hearts broken into little pieces. At the same time, however, he also wanted to create an album that shows us that this pain is a natural expression of love, and that it can be a good place to reflect on oneself and our relationships.
Can I Be Honest…? begins with Zee’s beautiful vocals on I’m in Love (With Everyone), blended together perfectly with his signature pop/rock style to create an enjoyably rhythmic and potent experience. The beat is underscored with his signature guitar riffs that, while not always predominantly heard throughout the album, does serve as the backbone of various singles such as Worse.
The album takes us on a journey of finding someone we think we love, or even fall head over heels for, but it is not a love that lasts. We elegantly transition to the point where we have fallen out with our love and start to crash into a depression, but also a rageful point in our life. This emotional roller coaster culminates in the finale of the album (the tracks Killshot and The Radio), where we have come to terms with our feelings and find ourselves in a better place. As we have not only learned more about ourselves from this experience of heartbreak, but we also start to comprehend what it means to truly love somebody.
Zee Machine has created a fantastic album that takes us on an uncomfortably comfortable journey of falling in, and out, of love. His passionate vocals, mixed together with an instrumental background, create a perfect replication of heartbreak and the emotional roller coaster of love and loss. This is a tremendous follow up to his first album, Brainchemistry (2018), and we look forward to seeing his continued rise in the music industry.