On his latest single, “FOREVERMORE,” Pennsylvania-based multi-instrumentalist James Zero channels the shimmer of 80s glam rock and the pulse of modern synthpop into something both radiant and quietly devastating. At first listen, the track plays like a lovestruck anthem — bright synths wash over steady guitar riffs, and Zero’s vocals lean into a kind of arena-ready sincerity. But beneath the gloss lies a far weightier core: the song is a metaphor for grief, a disguised elegy for a lost friend.
It’s this tension — between surface seduction and subterranean sorrow — that makes “FOREVERMORE” stand out. Zero, who handled every element of the track himself (from guitars and drums to mixing and mastering through his label, Anything But Kountry Records), turns solitude into a kind of maximalism. There’s no band to back him, but the song never feels small. Instead, it roars with the confidence of someone who has learned to carry both their instruments and their emotions at full volume.
The production is steeped in nostalgia, nodding to The Police’s angular melodies and MkGee’s more modern textural experiments, while pushing into electronic territory that gives the song its pulse. The synth lines aren’t just decorative; they act as connective tissue, stitching together the jagged edges of grief with something that feels surprisingly buoyant. When Zero sings as though he’s serenading a lover, the sleight of hand makes the song even more heartbreaking. He’s not singing to someone who might walk into the room — he’s singing to someone who never will.
“FOREVERMORE” is one of the final singles leading up to Zero’s forthcoming album early2thou, due in late 2025 or early 2026. If this track is any indication, the project won’t just be about paying homage to the past; it will be about reanimating it, forcing retro sounds to reckon with very modern feelings of loss, connection, and resilience.
In interviews, Zero has said this is one of the most fun songs he’s made, a necessary burst of energy for the album. That contradiction is telling: grief is rarely linear, and sometimes joy is the only way through. On “FOREVERMORE,” James Zero doesn’t just blur the lines between love song and elegy — he shows how easily one can become the other.
