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May 02, 2024 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Ada Chen

Orlando, Florida-based indie singer/songwriter Zoya Zafar first debuted in 2015 with her EP Spaceless Craft and was set to follow soon after with her debut LP. However, grief, illness, and isolation put her music on hold for years. She returned last year with her single “Wordz,” and followed with a series of new singles, teasing her debut LP, Some Songs, out tomorrow, May 3rd.

Some Songs finds Zafar playing with strains of indie and ambient pop, crafting simmering, glassy, and entrancing soundscapes adorned with lush instrumentation and washes of electronic production. Zafar is also joined on the record by her collaborator Max Helgemo, who mixed and produced the record, and her close friend Gia Margaret who provided production on several of the record’s highlights.

One of these highlights includes the album’s closing track, “Clumsy.” Ahead of the album’s release, Zafar is sharing an early listen to “Clumsy,” premiering with Under the Radar

With “Clumsy” Zafar strips back all of her music’s layers, leaving only spectral guitar chords, mournful organ tones, and piano-led outro. The result is a gentle and minimalist effort, steeped in vintage lo-fi production. The spare tone creates a work that is both intimate and cavernous, clearing space for Zafar’s vocals and longing confessions. It is an aching song about heartbreak and memory, and the lyrics bring the feeling of absence to life beautifully: “You were the light / In the dark / Giving away your / Sad, sad heart / Living inside / A house of cards / You were the light / In the dark.”

Zafar says, “Clumsy” is a bittersweet recount on the comfort a connection brought. The escape it was, the longing of what could have been, and realizing the fragility of it all. When I wrote this song, it was my way of crystallizing a fond memory, a fleeting moment of intimacy through a simple gesture.

Check out the song below. Some Songs is out everywhere tomorrow, May 3rd.