“My girlfriend and I went out to a queer dance party called Queen! and stayed till about four in the morning, and Derrick played a track that was a big rock riff over a funk beat,” Francis recalls. “The next day I went into the studio on very little sleep and started working on the demo for ‘Need You Again,’ and after I finished, I couldn’t stop listening to it. It’s a song about a love affair, and the experience of projecting magical qualities onto another person and feeling almost addicted or beholden to them,” - Neal Francis
Francis’ first full-length studio effort in more than three years and most extravagantly realized work so far, Return To Zero sees the Chicago-based singer-songwriter-pianist creating a beautifully strange entangling of timeless rock ’n’ roll and ’70s-era dance music. Merging supremely heavy guitar riffs with lush and pulsating grooves, Francis constructed the album sans digital programming in keeping with his long-standing devotion to all things analog.
The album was heralded earlier in the year with the premiere of the gorgeously sprawling power pop anthem, “What’s Left Of Me.” A piercingly candid reflection on life on the road co-written with chart-topping Nashville-based songwriter Chris Gelbuda (Sabrina Carpenter, Meghan Trainor, Zac Brown Band), the track is accompanied by an official music video streaming now.
Co-produced by Francis alongside frequent collaborator Sergio Rios and recorded live in the studio with members of his touring band, Return To Zero is further highlighted by the playfully swaggering, deliberately over-the-top confession of romantic desperation, “Back It Up,” joined by an official music video directed by Alec Basse and streaming now.
