Zephyrus

## Chronology

*Boreas*

***Zephyrus***

*Hello My Old Heart (Ten Year Anniversary)*

***Zephyrus*** is the fourth and final EP in the Four Winds series released by indie folk rock band The Oh Hellos. The EP was released on Friday, October 16, 2020 both to stream on Spotify and for digital download on Bandcamp. It was additionally released as a physical copy, either as a CD on its own or as side B of a 12-inch vinyl alongside the *Boreas* EP.

## Background

See also: Four Winds (series)

In early 2016, Tyler Heath aimed to create a series of EPs that were more relaxed in tone and scope, thus allowing him to decompress from the complex nature of their second album, *Dear Wormwood*. Meanwhile, Maggie began reflecting on her own Christian faith and values and started writing about them on her own. While the project was initially inspired by the motif of the four seasons, both Tyler and Maggie soon realized that angle had already been approached by several artists before them. Aiming to do something unique with the concept, they stumbled upon the four Greek wind deities of *Anemoi*, representing transitions between seasons. Echoing themes of evolution and growth as well as Greek mythology being ingrained prominently in modern American culture, they were drawn to the Anemoi gods. However, following the 2016 Presidential Election and the radicalism and social division that followed, they began to contemplate their own values and upbringing. This resulted in a shattering disillusionment and sense of uncertainty for them, both as Christians and as residents of southern Texas. The ensuing election shifted the course of the project dramatically, and they felt a responsibility to use their music to address the current issues, start a conversation about changing values and the political situation, and reconcile their ever-evolving emotions on the social climate. Therefore, the Anemoi gods and themes of changing seasons became a natural springboard for the project.

From this newfound place, Tyler and Maggie began work throughout 2017 on composing and writing the series, taking 11 months to write and record the first two EP’s as well as begin planning for the last two. In November 2017, the band announced the project, establishing the premise of the series as examining the question, "Where did my ideas come from?". *Notos*, released in December 2017, aimed to contemplate the challenges to one's initial worldviews and the pushback from them in the midst of the political climate. *Eurus*, released in February 2018, attempted to interrogate this notion further and grapple with the uncertainty of when those worldviews and our connections with the communities we used to identify with fracture.

However, as Tyler and Maggie continued work on the last two EPs, their own internal conflicts between their understandings of Christianity and the increasing support for politics contradictory to those teachings reached a fever pitch. Due to this turmoil and their own crisis of conscience, they took more time between *Eurus* and *Boreas* and wanted to leave room to reflect and be honest about the project and the emotions surrounding it as they continued to work. Despite this break, when the COVID-19 pandemic went into effect in March 2020, they eventually felt that this would be the perfect time to finish and release the last EPs and conclude the series. Two-and-a-half years after the release of *Eurus*, the band announced the third EP in the series, *Boreas*, on August 21, 2020. As a natural continuation of the previous themes, *Boreas* aimed to confront the fallout of the choices from *Eurus* leading to that fracture and how to ultimately rise from the uncertainty better and kinder. On the same day as the announcement, lead single and title track "Boreas" was released, and on September 4th, the full EP was officially released. This soon led to speculation of the release of the fourth and final EP in the series given the small gap between the previously released *Notos* and *Eurus*.

## Production and Release

Just over two weeks after *Boreas*’ release, the band shared an animation on their social media accounts made by illustrator and musician Louie Zong, who created the animation for the announcement video for *Boreas*. This animation featured birds flocking to the branches of blooming trees outside a window and singing in unison, ending with a window shade being pulled down featuring the date “10.2.2020" on it. Similar to the first announcement video, the band used the second instrumental track off the *Zephyrus* EP, "Murmurations/Reading the Augury", as the background music for the video. This video seemingly confirmed to many that the fourth and final EP of the series would be releasing soon after. Subsequently, on October 2nd, the final EP in the series, *Zephyrus*, was officially announced alongside the release of lead single “Soap.”

Named for the western wind deity that welcomes the spring, *Zephyrus* is meant to be the culmination of the emotional dilemmas examined in the series. In the midst of the interrogation, shattering, and discovery of one's values through the series, *Zephyrus* aims to take the philosophy gained by the end of *Boreas* and fully affirm and embrace that growth and optimism. The band stated that their goal with *Zephyrus* was to explore the result of the evolution throughout the series and how one can break down the structures that “keep us isolated and unfeeling.” It seeks to explore working toward our more compassionate and empathetic selves “if we can muster the courage to be vulnerable.” Themed after the warmer and lighter sounds of the spring season, *Zephyrus* musically attempts to evoke this newfound growth, "rising up like tender leaves breaking through concrete and cascading down like mountain rivers surging with the first thaw of the season." In their release statement alongside the EP, the band shared a small coda in light of the end of this series as well as the ongoing pandemic: "It’s been a long year; thanks for listening". The artwork for *Zephyrus'* cover features a rabbit, likely due to its association with the spring season as well as fertility, resurrection, innocence, vulnerability, and growth.[*citation needed*] As for lead single "Soap", the cover features what has been theorized to be a poppy, albeit the exact type is unknown.[*citation needed*]

On October 16, 2020 — exactly 5 years after the release of *Dear Wormwood* — *Zephyrus* was officially released, concluding the Four Winds saga. It was later released on physical media such as on CD as well as on a split vinyl with the *Boreas* EP, with *Zephyrus* serving as side B of the record. As of December 2022, *Zephyrus* collectively has 9.61 million plays across all seven tracks on Spotify, with the third track, "Theseus," holding the most listens at 2.64 million plays followed closely behind lead single "Soap" at 2.58 million plays.

## Gallery

Split vinylVinyl coverTracklistSplit vinyl tracklistSide BLyric sheet
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 “Maggie and Tyler Heath: The Oh Hellos”. The BlackSheep Podcast: Presented by HM Magazine. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Harras, M. (2018, April 4). The Oh Hellos Interview. RadioUTD. http://radioutd.com/blog/2018/04/oh-hellos-interview/
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Heyde, K. (2018, March 26). Interview with Oh Hellos: Music as a Conversation in Modern Times of Uncertainty. Teal Magazine. https://tealmagazine.com/articles/interview-with-oh-hellos
4. ↑ The Oh Hellos. (2017, November 15) “Our new EP #Notos will be released on December…” Twitter. https://twitter.com/theohhellos/status/930935442236514304
5. ↑ Notos. (2017, November 15). The Oh Hellos. https://music.theohhellos.com/album/notos
6. ↑ The Oh Hellos. (2017, December 8) “Our new EP Notos is now available everywhere! Stream, download HERE” Twitter. https://twitter.com/theohhellos/status/939134752321179649
7. ↑ The Oh Hellos. (2018, February 9) “Eurus is out today! Available at your favorite digital music purveyor…” Twitter. https://twitter.com/theohhellos/status/961988567659560962
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Margolis, L. (2020, October 16). The Oh Hellos Examine What’s Blowin’ in the Wind. American Songwriter. https://americansongwriter.com/the-oh-hellos-examine-whats-blowin-in-the-wind/
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 The Oh Hellos. (2020, September 22) “GUESS WHO. 10.2.20.” Twitter. https://twitter.com/theohhellos/status/1308437287185702912
10. ↑ The Oh Hellos. (2020, August 11) “8.21.20.” Twitter. https://twitter.com/theohhellos/status/1293222642259038209
11. ↑ The Oh Hellos. (2020, October 2) “The series concludes on October 16th with the fourth installment, ‘Zephyrus'…” Twitter. https://twitter.com/theohhellos/status/1312053561543581701
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Zephyrus. (2020, October 2). The Oh Hellos. https://music.theohhellos.com/album/zephyrus
13. ↑ The Oh Hellos. (2020, October 16) “Tender leaves breaking through concrete. Mountain rivers surging with the first thaw.…” Twitter. https://twitter.com/theohhellos/status/1317121585837461504
14. ↑ Zephyrus. The Oh Hellos. https://open.spotify.com/album/3HRUVrqWJTR4O5Xa4OlSoW?si=9y3\_Il14TfCKDX2hZgSGSQ&dl\_branch=1