New Releases: Zoë Mace “Habanera”

With the release of “Habanera”, soprano Zoë Mace is learning how to approach music on her own terms. “When I was little, I was singing for my sister,” Zoë shared. Jodi was born with Down syndrome and Zoë’s first album, “Little Ray of Light” raised £27,000 for the Oxford Children’s Hospital which treated Jodi. Tragically, Jodi passed away in 2005, and Zoë completed her next project “Songs for My Sister” as a tribute to her. “It was incredibly emotional and everything was very personal and kind of in the family. It was a lot to kind of do at such a young age. I think that’s why I needed to kind of grow up a bit and have that time to just be out of the concert scene and get my education behind me.”

The time away allowed Zoë to discover her own identity with music. She completed her Bachelor’s in Music degree at King’s College London. Fans rarely heard from her though she surfaced again when Celtic Woman announced a special competition to perform with them. Zoë ended up winning a spot and appeared as a guest artist at their 2017 concert at the London Palladium. “I will always sing for my sister and that will always be incredibly important to me but it was no longer my identity as an artist. That was the biggest shift. I think that’s where I really struggled to kind of start again as an adult.”

Zoë casually released one single in 2020, a ballad song entitled “2am Questions,” but her latest release “Habanera” is her first serious attempt at a comeback. It was important for her to show a new direction. “I wanted my kind of first release in my adult career to be something that kind of put a stamp on how I want to progress as an artist and move me away from my child image… I just got excited by the prospect of being able to do things my own way and break the rules a little bit.”

Zoë, who teaches music, reached out to one of her former students turned producer and said, “Do you think we can kind of cross our musical worlds here? Could you produce a track that’s kind of like electronic and almost dubstep? And she just went and just did the most amazing job with her partner, Louie. What they came up with just worked perfectly. I’m really excited to kind of get that out there. We’ve got a really cool video to go with it. And it all just feels very aligned with how I want to be as an artist now.”

In addition to classical training, Zoë has found inspiration from Eva Cassidy. “I always found myself kind of combining the two and feeling like it was a bit illegal. You’ll hear even in the Habanera that I throw riffs and in places where there they absolutely shouldn’t be riffs but it just felt natural to me. I kind of sit somewhere between that kind of folky but also very operatic spectrum.”

Stream “Habanera” on Spotify now!

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Natasha Barbieri, Editor

Editor

Creator of Classical Crossover Magazine. For Natasha music has always been closely tied to her faith. At age 18, Natasha made her opera debut playing the part of the mother in Menotti’s ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors’ with the Eastern Festival Opera. At 20, she was a winner of the 2011 Young Artist Competition at Andrews University. Natasha graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor’s of Music. Natasha has released a series of Holiday singles “A Place Called Home” (2020), “One Little Boy,” and “The Perfect Year” (2021). In 2021, she was nominated for the ‘Future Classic Women Awards’ show on Men’s & Women’s Radio Station. Natasha is the creator and editor of ‘Classical Crossover Magazine’ a venture that has allowed her to interview many of the top stars in the genre including Sarah Brightman, Celtic Woman, Mirusia, Paul Potts, and more. During the covid-19 pandemic, she created an online concert series for the magazine that has seen her perform in the same line-up as Alex Sharpe, Lucy Kay, Barbara Padilla, Classical Reflection, and more on the virtual stage. In 2022, Natasha was included on the charity album “Stars of Classical Crossover: Christmas” in benefit of the Wallace & Gromit Children’s Charity.