''Telos'' is the third studio album by

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

producer

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...

, released on 30 August 2024 through

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. It features collaborations and guest appearances from Bava,

Bea Miller Beatrice Annika Miller is an American singer and actress. She was the fifth contestant eliminated on The X Factor (U.S. season 2), season two of The X Factor (American TV series), ''The X Factor'' (US) when she was 13 years old. She was later si ...

, Ellis,

Grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

, the Olllam,

Remi Wolf Remi Francis Wolf (born February 2, 1996) is an American singer and songwriter from Palo Alto, California. As a senior in high school, she appeared as a contestant on ''American Idol'' in 2014. After completing her undergraduate music studies in ...

, the late

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (raised as Scott Moorhead; November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997) was an American musician. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, he attracted a cult following in the early 1990s performing at venues in ...

Mesto Melle Kiet Stomp (born 30 September 1999), better known by his stage name Mesto, is a Dutch electronic music, electronic musician, DJ, record producer and remixer. He gained recognition after collaborating with Martin Garrix (born in the same tow ...

Dora Jar Dora Jarkowski (born October 12, 1996), known professionally as Dora Jar, is an American Lo-fi music, bedroom pop musician from Northern California. Jar has released a studio album, two extended plays and three singles as of 2024, and has been ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

, and

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

. Production was handled by Zedd himself alongside Ellis, Grey, and Mesto. Preceded by the singles "Out of Time" and "Lucky", it marks Zedd's first album in nine years since '' True Colors'' (2015).

Background and promotion

In a 2023 recap video uploaded to

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, Zedd announced that he was working on a new album, calling the project "the most genuine and deeply personal album I've ever made". In May 2024, during a performance at the

EDC Las Vegas EDC or EdC may refer to: Education * East Devon College, in Tiverton, Devon, England * EDC Paris Business School, a French business school * Education Development Center, an American educational organization * Department for Education (South A ...

music festival, Zedd announced the album's release date using

skywriting Skywriting is the process of using one or more small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns that create writing readable from the ground. These messages can be advertisements, general messages of celebrat ...

. The album title and cover art were revealed in an Instagram post uploaded shortly after EDC. On 21 June 2024, the album's lead single "Out of Time" was released, featuring vocals from

. Two weeks later, Zedd announced a partnership with 5 Gum to produce an exclusive one-off show in an undisclosed

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

bodega. The show would include previously unheard songs from ''Telos''. Fans were invited to compete for the event's free tickets by participating in a

scavenger hunt A scavenger hunt is a game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific items that need to be found, which the participants seek to gather or complete all items on the list, usually without purchasing them. Usually participants work i ...

, with clues posted by Zedd and 5 Gum's social media accounts every day until the scheduled event on 22 August. Only the first 25 people to visit the bodega ahead of the show would receive free tickets. The album's second single, "Lucky" (with

), was released on 9 August 2024. All tracks from the album were released as singles weekly starting in October, with Zedd publishing both the instrumental versions (without vocals) and the a cappella versions (vocals only, without background beats) of the songs.

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer Sample credits * "Dream Brother" is a remix of the song of the same name as performed by

, and written by Buckley,

Mick Grøndahl Michael Christian Grøndahl (often spelled Grondahl) (born 7 May 1968) is a Danish-American bass guitarist. He is widely known for playing bass guitar and composing on Jeff Buckley's debut album, ''Grace (Jeff Buckley album), Grace''. Early Li ...

, and Matt Johnson. *"1685" interpolates

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846 Prelude may refer to: Music *Prelude (music), a musical form * Prelude (band), an English-based folk band * Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label *Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition fo ...

Personnel

Musicians *

–

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

(all tracks), background vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4, 9), vocals (1) *

Jeremy Kittel Jeremy Kittel is an American musician and composer. His primary instruments are the violin / fiddle and viola and he has worked in a number of genres including Celtic, Jazz, Pop, Classical, Bluegrass, Folk music, and more. He leads his na ...

–

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

, violin (all tracks); conductor (track 10) * Nathaniel Smith –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

(tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 8) *

– vocals (tracks 1, 2) * Mark Dover –

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

(track 1) * Ellis – bass guitar (tracks 2, 6), guitar (6) *

Jacob Collier Jacob Collier (born 2 August 1994) is a British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and educator. His music incorporates a combination of jazz and elements from other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reharmo ...

– background vocals (track 2) * B. C. Manjunath – percussion (track 3) *

– programming (track 3) * Michelle Packman –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

(track 3) * Kyle Trewartha – vocals (track 3) * Priya Darshini – vocals (track 3) * Adita Prabhudesai – choir (track 3) * Arohi Mhatre – choir (track 3) * Darshana Menon – choir (track 3) * Janardan Dhatrak – choir (track 3) * Latesh Puujari – choir (track 3) * Madhura Paranjape – choir (track 3) * Savni Bhatt – choir (track 3) * Sharmishtha Bhatkar – choir (track 3) * Shrikant Krishna – choir (track 3) * Shripad Lele – choir (track 3) * Sudhir Yaduvanshi – choir (track 3) * Swapna Gothiwrekar – choir (track 3) * Umesh Joshi – choir (track 3) * Vijay Dhuri – choir (track 3) * Vivek Naik – choir (track 3) * Yashika Sikka – choir (track 3) * Bava – vocals (track 4) * The Olllam –

low whistle The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of British and Irish artists such as Tommy Mak ...

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...

(track 5) * Celina Sharma – background vocals (track 6) * Charles Redick – background vocals (track 6) * Chenee Campbell – background vocals (track 6) * Katrice "Binki" Walker – background vocals (track 6) *

– vocals (track 6) *

– vocals,

dulcimer The term dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

, guitar,

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

, organ,

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

(track 7) *

Matthew Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, songwriter and producer. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and lyricist for the English rock band Muse (band), Muse. He is recognised for his eccentric stage persona, wid ...

– guitar (track 8), vocals (10) * Emmi – background vocals (track 8) *

– programming (track 8) *

– vocals (track 8) *

– vocals, guitar (track 9) *

Chris Wolstenholme Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born 2 December 1978) is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the rock band Muse. He combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven fuzz bass tones, a motif of ...

– bass guitar (track 10) * Jacob Warren – bass guitar (track 10) *

Dominic Howard Dominic James Howard (born 7 December 1977) is an English musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Muse. Early life Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with hi ...

– drums (track 10) Technical * Zedd – mixing * Mike Marsh – mastering * Ryan Shanahan – engineering, mixing assistance *

Dónal O'Connor Dónal O'Connor is an Irish multi-instrumentalist, producer and television presenter, producer & director from Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland. He was a member of Belfast-based Irish traditional groups Ulaid & At First Light and his parents ...

– engineering (track 5) * Ellis – vocal engineering (track 8) * Jeremy Kittel – string

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s *

Ben Kane Ben Kane (born 6 March 1970) is an Irish novelist who specialises in historical fiction. He is best known for his ''Forgotten Legion'', ''Spartacus'', and ''Hannibal'' book series. His 2011 novel, ''Hannibal: Enemy of Rome'', made the ''Sunday ...

– additional mixing (track 3) Creative Direction * Roseanna Lane – creative direction, art direction, artist

Charts

References

{{Authority control Zedd albums 2024 albums Interscope Records albums