Track By Track: Zoe Konez – Everything’s Fine

I reviewed Zoe Konez’s new album recently – you can read the review here – and Zoe has kindly agreed to give us a Track By Track breakdown of the LP after its release.

My main takeaway from the album was that, as I said in the review, I felt better in myself after listening to Everything’s Fine – that hard-to-describe ‘everything’s going to be OK’ quality I get from hearing A Distant Shore by Tracey Thorn, Aventine by Agnes Obel, or Ten Love Songs by Susanne Sundfør. Comfort in terms of adversity is a wonderful thing to share with someone else.

She says of the album as a whole, “Everything’s Fine came from realising that the life I’d built wasn’t actually the one I wanted. It became a way of working through that confusion, and slowly figuring out how to build something that felt more truthful.”

Paragon

Paragon came from feeling cut off and quietly overwhelmed, like I was fumbling around while the world carried on outside. It opens the album in that unsettled space, but there’s already a hint that isolation won’t last forever.

I Don’t Want To Be Lonely Anymore

I wrote this after noticing how easily you can slip into withdrawal and call it normal. It’s me admitting something has to change, and asking, very plainly, if another person might meet me in that loneliness.

Easy To Learn

It’s a metaphor-veiled contemplation on how our upbringing can impact us. When I recorded it, I was feeling vulnerable, about my voice in particular, so I purposely lay my lead vocal amongst many layers, as I consider how important it is to have a support network, to catch you as you develop in life.

This Utopia

This Utopia was a pause from anxiety – a sunny daydream about escape, travel and belonging. I wrote it while feeling hemmed in and lonely, so the song became an imaginary world where life feels easier and everyone is welcome.

I Know It Happened But I Can’t Explain

This song came from the aftermath of a relationship ending – all the objects and memories still there, but the person gone. I wanted to capture that confused feeling of in-between – witnessing your life change significantly and living in that space before you start to rebuild.

Nudge

Nudge is about the exhaustion of trying to fix yourself from every angle and still ending up back where you started. The chorus landed on something smaller but truer – sometimes a tiny signal of hope really is enough.

Time For Tea

I had the title’s phrase in my head for a while – in 2020 I randomly started going live on my Facebook page each day at 3pm and played a song, and it grew to be a place that people said they looked forward to, when we weren’t socialising in the real world. So what was ‘Tea with me at 3’, became Time for Tea, and recognising how even a 5-minute brew with another person, talking about small stuff, can be the highlight of your day.

We Have To

We Have To is about endurance when life feels unstable. I wanted it to face pressure, conflict and exhaustion without becoming hopeless. It’s really about the stubborn, everyday act of rebuilding – carrying on because, somehow, that’s what we do.

Human

Sometimes songs are a good excuse for talking to yourself from the outside, as if you’re talking to others. I am talking to everyone in the lyrics, but also myself. Looking for compassion, forgiveness of your mistakes, building back that resilience. It’s hard, hence the repeating, encouraging mantra at the end.

Friend Like That

Friend Like That came from thinking about how adult friendships change – how some people shape you deeply, then slowly drift out of everyday life, and that’s ok. It was inspired by a friend taking me on a day out, and it made me reflect on lost friendships. I wanted it to hold the warmth of memories as well as the sadness of that distance.

Intimate

Intimate was one of the rawest songs to record. I played it on an old beaten-up acoustic guitar with a missing string and low tuning, and the first take never got topped, so I stuck with it. I still haven’t changed that string; I feel like that old guitar can only play that one song now.

Yeah I Know

Yeah I Know began in a more anxious place, but writing it gradually changed my mood. I wanted it to feel calming and hopeful – like a small lullaby for all the fears that can stop us from properly living.

Everything’s Fine came out on the 12th of June and can be picked up in vinyl and CD formats via Bandcamp. For streaming options for the album, such as Spotify, as well as all the latest artist news, head to Konez’ Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook socials.