A Transformation Through Sound
In Greek mythology, when the gods grant King Midas the power to turn everything he touches into gold, what first seems like a wish come true slowly becomes a curse. In the case of L.A.-based producer Zhu‘s fifth studio album, Black Midas, however, the tables are turned, and what seems like a curse is musically transmogrified into a blessing.
Created in the wake of the Palisades Fire which saw Zhu’s charred Topanga home left uninhabitable for a year, the stripped-down 14-track melodic techno LP explores the luxurious spaces between sounds. It’s as much about its subtlety as it is the tribal percussion and shadowy basslines, turning darkness itself into a main character with all-black moods and low-register explorations.
The album opens with a spoken-word nod to the Greek tale from which it takes its name. “What color do you see in my future?” Zhu asks. “Siyah,” a Turkish fortune teller replies: black, like soot.
Finding Clarity on the Road
Rather than stay in his burnt-out home, Zhu hit the road in a Mercedes Sprinter van and traveled the country. What he found, felt, and saw on the road, as well as his global tour travels throughout 2025, inspired the album’s monochrome tone.
It’s an experiment in simplicity and an ode to moving ever forward. Driving drum machine rhythms and high-tempo stabbing synths push the listener to hypnotic extremes on “Levelzzz,” while the aptly-titled “Keep It Moving” hums with the constant tension of frenetic sixteenth notes. Here, the blank space above the drums is important, leaving room for the percussion to exist without overwhelming the dark canvas.
Club-Forward Minimalism
With a handful of features, the front-half of the album is as sparse as the back end, yet somehow it feels club-forward. “5starrr,” with They. (who previously collaborated with Zhu alongside Skrillex on the 2015 hit “Working For It”) creates a dance floor hook out of a rhythmic vocal alone, bouncing melodic syllables over a steady churning beat that would stand still if it wasn’t for the word play.
Likewise, “Burn,” featuring Joyia, transforms into a soulful turning point, sizzling the Toronto singer’s smoky whisper and Zhu’s sensual pleas over the bubbling bpm.
As Black Midas melts into the back half, Zhu leaves the featured vocalists behind and settles into a sound that feels very midnight-hour R&B. “One Desire” bleeds romantic over Afrohouse-adjacent rhythms, putting his characteristic black touch on the sound that’s taken over clubs from Miami to Marseille.
He moves ever deeper on stripped-back songs “Keep It Moving” and “Fireaway,” the latter of which bounces his echoing vocals off empty walls of skeletal sound. The Zhu band’s signature saxophone makes a slinky appearance on “New Shoes,” in which we can imagine stilettos walking in puddled streets, the reflection of neon signs rippling with each puncture of the heel.
There’s something really lovely in the soulful stillness of the album’s end. By penultimate track “Tangier,” we’ve been lulled into a blissful calm, even as a certain eeriness lurks inside the incessant bleat of a siren synth—but that relaxed feel is rewarded with album closer “Raindown,” which feels like the sexy trip-hop song Sade forgot to release.
At just over 53 minutes of playtime, Black Midas gets deeper, darker, and softer with each passing tune, and we actually like that about it best. It grows ever more introspective and removed as the black encompasses all things.
Being forced out of your house by fire is not a blessing, but within the forced exile, Zhu found some simple treasures and he’s managed to turn that tragedy into—okay, we’ll say it—gold.