Azul Zapata stopped by Live & Local last week, to celebrate the release of her new EP “Death, Love & Disco.”
“Death Love and Disco” is Azul’s second EP, her first since her 2021 debut, “The View From Here.” Pound for pound, it’s one of the Triangle’s best releases of the year, with five powerhouse tracks – led by “Disco Never Died,” which serves both as the lead single and a sort of thesis statement.
“Those are things that are unavoidable in life,” Azul says of the EP’s title. “Death, love, and – you can try to avoid disco, but you can’t. In every piece of popular music today, there is a little bit of disco. So these are unavoidable things…
“But they’re also transformative things. Death transforms you. Love transforms you. (And) disco transformed me. During the pandemic, I was very sad and very disconnected, and disco kept me alive. So it’s (also) about the unavoidable transformation of life: being lied to, falling in love, falling out of love, choosing to move on.”
Azul is a rising star in the Triangle music scene, and “Death, Love and Disco” marks a major step in her journey on several levels. Not only are the songs themselves earning widespread acclaim, the EP also gave her the opportunity to do something she’d never done before: produce physical copies of her music, in addition to digital releases.
“I pressed my first (vinyl), and that was as emotional as you think it was,” she says. “I cried. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can hold my music in my hands’ – which is not something we get to do very often.”
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But while Azul is having a terrific year musically, she’s also painfully aware of how difficult 2025 has been for many of us overall. And while “Death, Love and Disco” has a fun vibe, Azul is also using her platform to be a spokesperson for social justice, standing up for women, immigrants, BIPOC individuals and the queer community – all groups to which she personally belongs.
“We come from a country (Argentina) that had a military dictatorship,” she says, “and I’ve had family members in Argentina going, ‘Is this really happening?’ To them, America is the place of possibilities. but then they see everything that’s going on and it’s very dream-shattering…
“(So) I try to do my part. I’m part of Siembra NC, I’ve been trained to be able to go and watch areas (for ICE’s presence). I try to be vocal for my trans sisters and brothers, making sure that they are safe. And I show up, because not showing up is what kills me. If I’m at home feeling like I’m doing nothing, that makes me want to crumble.”
Azul’s next show is a big one: she’s performing on the main stage at Raleigh’s First Night celebration on New Year’s Eve, from 9:45-10:30 p.m. Click here to buy tickets and get more information.
Azul Zapata stopped by Live & Local, accompanied by Emily Musolino, to discuss “Death, Love and Disco” and play three songs live in the 97.9 The Hill studio: “Stress Dreams,” “Lies,” and “I Did It.” Listen:
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