Zana Gets To “Know You”

The NYC artist releases a followup to “Sweet Tooth”

> By JOHN STEIN

Zana’s “Know You” is a dark and mysterious song about admiring someone from afar. “I think many of us have experienced the feeling of being intrigued by a special stranger and longing to know more about them,” the young pop singer explains. “We build images of who they are in our heads based on the little clues we see, and sometimes we wonder when or if our paths might cross, and if they do, will sparks fly?”

The track is the second single off her This Is Autumn EP. It’s available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and all major streaming platforms, and its video is on YouTube.

“I often think about how we’re each the lead character in our own movie,” Zana continues from her NYC apartment. “And how the people we pass on the street every day who play supporting roles in our movie are the lead characters in their own.” The idea of individual movies is reflected in the music video for “Know You”, with Zana standing in front of a screen that’s projecting a montage of resplendent images, interspersed with clips of an alluring man, played by Zana’s real life boyfriend (who was also featured in animation form in her “Sweet Tooth” video!). In the “Know You” music video’s storyline, Zana yearns to know the man, but he remains a shadow to her. He’s there, but not fully.

Says Zana, “The moral of the story is to have courage. Be brave. Don’t wait for things to happen, hoping that one day everything will fall into place. Say what you need to say. Make life happen.”

Zana has certainly done just that. She grew up in Oakland, and after high school, attended Berklee College of Music, where she further developed her “gypsy-pop” style–a sophisticated, feelgood, soulful sound influenced by her Lebanese and Serbo-Croatian roots. Her songs explore topics from romance and body positivity to depression, anxiety, and insomnia. “I want listeners to know that they’re not alone in their hopes, fears and confusion,” she explains. “I have learned that there is strength in being vulnerable. I dare to bare those feelings in my music.”

Follow Zana on Instagram and Twitter @zanazora and
on Facebook @zanazoramusic.