This is a tale of two artists: Zelooperz shot to prominence in 2016 with some Bruiser Brigade credentials and his rabid, frenzied Bothic album. Shigeto has been widely regarded as a groundbreaking production wizard since his debut album, 2010's Full Circle. Now the two talents are uniting as ZGTO, a project that, thus far, has revealed never-before-seen sides of both artists. Today, they follow up on the success of singles "Band Man" and "Off Dat" with something completely different: "Unfold."
"This is the last track on the record," Shigeto said over the phone. "It's also one of the first ones we made. I like the fact that it's so minimal... you don't really see songs this long without some poppy thing that needs to happen again and again." And yet, "there's something unsettling and unresolved to the whole thing," he continued.
Directed by Shane Patrick Ford, the video for "Unfold" takes place in a massive stained-glass church, a cosmic pink tunnel, and a truly barbaric butcher shop. The shoot happened in Zelooperz and Shigeto's Detroit hometown, and is a mesmerizing trip that lasts nearly seven minutes. The effect is a hypnotic one, with Zelooperz preaching from a pulpit while Shigeto plays a droning organ. It's a departure from both artists' previous styles—Zelooperz may be best known for his crazy energy on tracks like "ISBD," but he's unfurling bar after bar here. Shigeto, in turn, pulls back his vivid synths to create an eerie, surreal soundscape.
"I'm preaching, but this is no church," Zelooperz says. "This is my world, my vision. I don't pray to a specific god, I'm just talking about a higher power, good and evil. You know the difference between right and wrong, just go about it that way."
Watch the video for "Unfold" above, and look out for ZGTO's A Piece of the Geto album, out tomorrow via Ghostly.
