The breakthrough single from Bay Ledges, “Safe” came to life in a moment of major creative upheaval. After spending a few years in New York City, musician Zach Hurd took off for L.A., got a job at a restaurant in Venice, and put his music career on the backburner. While crashing at his sister Georgia’s place, he soon began writing and recording on his own as a way to reconnect with the pure joy he’d found in making music as a kid.
“I’d come home from work and record these songs and not really even think about releasing them, since they were so different from the heavier, more acoustic stuff I’d done before,” says Hurd. “It was just something to do for fun and to explore, without ever laboring over anything. The only goal was to get out of my own way and make songs that felt good to me.”
Sunny yet soulful, warmly textured and sweetly melodic, “Safe” was sparked by the newfound sense of possibility that Hurd discovered in moving to L.A. “It’s a love song, but there’s a bigger theme of meeting people who seem in touch with the magic of creating, especially the idea of creating just to create,” Hurd points out. With its heart-on-sleeve sensibility, “Safe” reveals the delicate contrast at the heart of Bay Ledges, embodying both a carefree spirit and powerful depth.
In November 2016, at the urging of his sisters and friends, Hurd released “Safe” online but made no effort to promote it. Within weeks, the track landed on Spotify’s Fresh Finds playlist, then shot up the Global Viral chart. “At the time I was in Williamsburg, Virginia, helping to clear out my grandparents’ old house,” recalls Hurd, who’s originally from Bath, Maine. “Every day I’d wake up to something new. It was so surreal—like, ‘This unbelievable thing is happening, and I’m in Colonial Williamsburg and there’s no one to celebrate with.’” With “Safe” drawing attention from a host of record labels, Hurd soon signed with S-Curve Records and has been preparing for the release of Bay Ledges’ debut EP.
Listen to new single ‘Safe’ here.