Hailing from Mumbai with soulful melodies and impactful lyrics, Zachary Ray is back with a new release, ‘Cloud 9’. Featuring Shreya Bhattacharya and Bernard Dafney on vocals, this uplifting pop-genre tune will certainly turn all your frowns upside-down. The simple message of being able to not just survive but thrive in difficult times with loving friends and family around you makes the song highly relatable. 

Zachary Ray sees music as a tool that could make a change in the world by healing people. He embodies this mantra in his music aptly through his seamless ability to produce songs that are emotional yet extremely catchy in the pop genre of music. ‘Cloud 9’ discusses the “feeling of not feeling enough”, as described by Ray himself, especially in troubled times, such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic, but despite the circumstances one can still be “swimming in the sunshine” and “dancing in the daylight” with the right people to support you. The pandemic had also led Ray to create a song earlier this year called ‘Danger’, featuring Siddharth Basrur, after experiencing the monotony that the pandemic could create. 

The independent artist developed a passion for music at a young age, starting with singing which created a path for him to study at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. While he is releasing his profound work, Ray also uses his gift of music to teach others. During his time working in India, Ray has used his experience to teach at Calcutta School of Music and even started his own company called ‘Chaitown Community’ in 2015. His passion for music has led him to songwriting and he has accomplished working with producers such as Nathan Walters, a billboard charting producer, Brandon Bee, who has produced music for Justin Bieber, and Nelda Studios.

Ray has collaborated with Bernard Dafney on this tune, an actor, singer, director and acting coach who has been featured in the television series ‘The Great Indian Murder’, as well as Shreya Bhattacharya, a close friend and vocalist from Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music. She is known for her versatile singing in the genres of jazz, RnB, gospel as well as western classical. 

“So I’ll hold up my head, no matter where I have been. So hold onto joy, it’s the best medicine” – an excerpt from ‘Cloud 9’

Zachary Ray has shown an immense amount of craftsmanship through his releases; he makes balancing good writing with an equal amount of soul and melodic sense much easier than it is. Stay tuned for more from this accomplished independent artist!

Watch 'Cloud 9' on YouTube :