Z.Honey is charged up w/ release “ION KNOW”

Z.Honey of the The Swim Team has quietly become a force within Chicago, not only through the music she’s been releasing over the last few years, but through the work she continues to put into the community surrounding it. From curating her own shows to intentionally creating space for other women artists throughout the city, Z.Honey has been doing her part to build the kind of camaraderie that Chicago’s music ecosystem constantly needs. She understands that building your own motion doesn’t have to mean moving alone. But don’t mistake the community work for a lack of focus on her own artistry. Her new record, “ION KNOW,” is proof of that. There’s a certain bravado and confidence running through this record that we’re definitely here for. The production is on point, the lyricism feels intentional, and the hook is chosen in a way that gives the record immediate replay value without taking away from what Z.Honey is actually saying. More importantly, she sounds like she’s having fun. And sometimes that matters just as much as everything else. There’s confidence in knowing where you stand. There’s confidence in knowing who you stand beside. Throughout “ION KNOW” Z.Honey makes both clear, not only within Chicago’s larger ecosystem, but alongside the Swim Team and the foundation they’ve continued building together..

Our critique is that we’re ready for the world around the music to become bigger. We want the album. We want the conceptual EP. But we also want the documentation. Z.Honey may be known as the first lady of the Swim Team, but there’s clearly an individual story, perspective, and artistic identity there that deserves more space. Over the last few years, she’s slowly but surely been putting pieces of herself into Chicago’s music ecosystem. Now we want to understand the journey behind those pieces, the artist, the human being, the community builder, and the experiences that created the confidence we’re hearing today. Because sometimes the next step isn’t simply releasing more music. Sometimes it’s giving people enough context to understand why the music sounds the way it does in the first place..

Take a listen to “ION KNOW” and let us know what you think..