Premiere: zhtml Explores Grief And Renewal On “teardrops in the garden”
Grief never follows a uniform path. Though this certainty reflects the unique bonds we share, its true nature lies in the disorienting experience of loss: how it can strip away our internal compass, leaving us adrift in a world that keeps spinning relentlessly, surrounded by a society that seems intent on turning up the pace. Our inner drive falters, our defining qualities grow quiet, and everything that once illuminated the way forward fades into dim, scattered traces. What was once a clear path is now something uncertain and unforgiving. But like all things in nature, that uncertainty holds the seeds of transformation–resilient rebirth that leads to a more instinctual understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
This journey of renewal lies at the heart of “teardrops in the garden,” the restorative new single from musician zhtml. Set for release on Tuesday, July 1, this new single is a powerful exploration of how a single loss can unleash profound turmoil, while also offering a heartfelt guide on navigating the emotional chaos that follows. Rooted in a deeply personal experience, the song blends lyrical reassurance with touching melodies to build a space where grief and healing go hand-in-hand, inviting listeners to confront their own pain and transform it into a source of hope for the future. Today, The Auricular is proud to premiere this moving new single with an exclusive stream below, along with a deeper look into the loss that inspired its creation and the promise it carries.
zhtml is the recording alias of multidisciplinary Afghan-American artist Zahra Sanie. Blending expansive experimental pop with cinematic storytelling, her music acts as an emotional metamorphosis, transforming inner turmoil into vivid sonic worlds. Sanie crafts songs with scenes in mind, drawing deeply from her background in visual arts in order to turn personal truths and pains into moving, immersive experiences. Each of these blends existential reflections into lush soundscapes, blurring the boundary between internal and external worlds while harmonizing the surreal beauty and raw texture found in both.
“teardrops in the garden” embodies this transformation with quiet grace, turning mourning into an ornate world shaped by bittersweet ache. “It’s a reflective piece based on my experiences with significant loss and documents what it’s like to feel so much that you have both everything and nothing to say,” Saine said. The song’s delicate balance between vulnerability and perseverance captures the quandary of being overwhelmed by emotion while searching for clarity and strength.
The single is dedicated to Sanie’s late aunt Michelle, who passed away in December 2024. As both her mother’s best friend and one of her loudest supporters, Michelle’s absence leaves a gaping space, unfillable even by the lavish sonic layer in the song. But even in death, her voice lives on… literally. In the interlude, Michelle’s voice surfaces from a saved voice clip with wry affection, providing encouragement for Saine to “go to the stage” and sing.
Within this context, Michelle’s voice nurtures something fresh and unfolding, a vibrant link between past, distant or recent, and future, near or far. It reflects the nature of rebirth, where no loss exists without consequence, steering life continually toward new horizons. “I use the symbolism of a garden to represent a place where life and death coexist,” Saine said, “Both a reminder and a promise that grief is a catalyst for transformation.”
The song captures this emotional complexity with expressive lyrics set against a looping guitar line and a scuttering drumbeat. Produced by Corduroy, the track provides the fertile soil within this musical nursery, harvesting haunting lyrical moments that resonate both as memorable hooks and deeply cathartic mantras (“I don’t keep it like a secret\ It’s just easier to lie\ I don’t keep it like a secret\ It’s just easier to hide“). The verses move gently, like quiet hands tending to a sentimental field, filling the space with a sense of peaceful restoration. In contrast, the chorus bursts forth with exhilarating release, like stumbling upon the perfect bloom, vibrant and full of meaning, grown from all that buried heartache.
Sanie’s voice carries a quiet intensity through each line with admissions that blur the boundary between intimate vulnerability (“I get so scared when you like me\ ’Cause I see so much to hate”) and sharp social commentary (“I feel so embarrassed when I’m grieving online\ But that’s a sign of the times”). It’s a striking reminder that the aftermath of loss rarely unfolds in isolation. Instead, it amplifies existing struggles, magnifies self-doubt, and complicates the already difficult path of healing.
Still, “teardrops in the garden” offers a quiet sense of comfort along that arduous path, reframing grief not as something to escape, but as a form of tender cultivation–sometimes monotonous, sometimes overwhelming, yet always meaningful. The labor it demands may be heavy, but it yields something real, something lasting. Rather than neatly tucking grief into a distant, inaccessible corner of the mind, it is embraced and transformed, becoming part of the foundation of each new chapter and coloring future stories with a presence that remains as alive as ever.
“teardrops in the garden” is zhtml’s second release after her debut single “fucked up in the 5D” in October 2024, a similarly layered work that showcased her nuanced pop approach that blends delicate melodic threads with gruff, unfiltered lyricism. That song was accompanied by a short animated video created by Burn Fry, pairing the song with a mousy, surreal charm. In it, a black-and-white sketched figure drifts through a sparse, crumbling world, headphones on, while vivid fishtank visuals flash beneath, contrasting innocence with emotional chaos in a subversively tender way.
Both releases reveal an artistic voice gifted in merging emotional depth with visual imagination, turning personal grief and dread into musical allegories with universal resonance. These are absorbing aural spaces where memory, mourning, and meaning can coexist in full bloom, each distinct on every colorful petal. As zhtml’s catalog continues to grow, so too does this ability to forge radiance from emotional wounds. As much as this processes the past, it also cultivates a future rich with promise, hinting at many more sonic treasures still to come.
“teardrops in the garden” will be released on Tuesday, July 1, across all streaming platforms. Follow zhtml on social media and bookmark their website for the latest news and updates.
