It’s only been a couple of years since Paces dropped his wildly popular debut Vacation, but a lot has changed in Mikey Perry’s life.

In the two years since Vacation landed, Perry has become a dad, completed a course at the Berklee College of Music, inked a global publishing deal, and played more gigs than most of us will go to in our lives.

So when he came back to write his blistering new album ZAG — out today — there was a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of shit that needed working out.

“The key thing that I’ve learned over this time is that it’s ok to change; in fact it’s a good and necessary part of life,” Perry says. “I wrote this album knowing that it had to be an artistic step forward from the previous one, while being mindful to not alienate the day-one Pacey Peeps.”

“The new sound pivots toward a festival vibe, but with more of a pop sensibility and a hip-hop influence shining through too. I think it’s so cool where pop is headed at the moment so I’m super psyched to be part of that in my own way.”

To celebrate the release of ZAG, Perry takes us through the entire album track-by-track, giving us the inside skinny on one of the biggest dance releases of the year.

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#1. ‘Zag, Binch’

Everything about my life changed after my first album. Crazy highs and crazy lows. I learned that it’s ok to change, which became the theme of this album and was reflected in the music I was writing.

Around the time that this theme was forming, I saw a tweet from Flexmami saying “When everyone expects you to zig, just zag, binch!” That tweet was a far more succinct way to sum up my message, so yeah my album concept is based on a tweet from Flexmami (that’s her in the intro too!).

The chopped up vocals are from Helen Corry, recorded at George FM in New Zealand.

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#2. ‘Another Day’

This is a piano-house track, something I’ve never made before in my life, plus drops and heaps of left-turns. It felt good to make something way outside my comfort zone! My friend Health Club helped out with the drums during the house sections. The topline was written by the incredibly talented Janeva.

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#3. ‘Technique’ (feat. Emmalyn & Jeida Woods)

I started this track by trying to make the weirdest dancehall beat possible. I ran organic instrument sounds (like Kalimbas) through all types of effects, blending them with harsh, screeching synths and then distilled it down to this version.

The topline was written by LYRE, an incredible songwriting duo from LA. Emmalyn absolutely made it her own; she’s such a star. And Jeida Woods is one of my favourite new voices – he’s the future for sure!

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#4. ‘Don’t Run’ (feat. Doolie)

This vocal was actually sent to me as a demo for my track ‘Creepin’. I’d already finished that song and I really loved this one so I just wrote a whole new instrumental under it. I linked up with Doolie to record her version of it which was so much fun. She’s incredibly talented and we work together so well.

There’s some additional production by Shockone on this track. I spent some time with him in Perth working on a few of these album tracks. He’s such a don, one of the realest.

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#5. ‘Call The 5-0’ (feat. Midas.Gold, Tigerilla & Health Club)

That’s my dog, Chilli at the start. This is another Health Club collab, hence the house drums during the verses. Midas.Gold absolutely snapped on this. He was so much fun in the studio too. The engineer looked so shocked during some of these bars. Also shoutout to Tigerilla for the hook of the century. WHAT. A. GUY.

We shot the film clip in Surfers Paradise. We were running around playing cops and robbers, dressed ridiculous. I woke this lady up by running past her window in one of the scenes and she came outside to yell at me. We got the shot though.

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#6. ‘Savage’ (feat. NYNE)

This is the first track that I wrote after Vacation. To me it was the start of a new chapter and a new sound. This opened up so many doors for me and I’m forever grateful for all the places it’s taken me. I’m also so grateful for NYNE’s contribution.

Without a doubt, NYNE is one of my favourite writers in the world. She has the most incredible sense of melody and everything she makes just sounds so fucking cool!

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#7. ‘Siren’ (feat. Guy Sebastian)

I’ve had the extreme good fortune of working with Guy on quite a few projects now. For ‘Siren’ we recorded a bunch of takes which were all great, then I told him to go back into the booth and do it one more time so I could film it for instagram. That’s the take that I ended up using!

Also shout out to my dude Shockone for adding his touch to the track. When this album was nearly finished I needed someone with fresh ears to help me push it that extra mile. We had some intense studio sessions and watched a lot of Skrillex film clips.

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#8. ‘Creepin’

This track began as an instrumental banger that I wrote purely for shows. It was a highlight during the ‘Savage’ tour so when I returned home I decided to spend some more time developing it. Amy Allen sings on the final version. Her vocal has this awesome raw energy.

It could almost be a punk song with a different instrumental, I think that’s what appealed to me about it. This song led me to create a giant light-up, inflatable elephant named THICCBOI, who now travels with me everywhere as part of my stage show.

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#9. ‘Going Mad’ (feat. CLYPSO & Raven Felix)

I recorded samples of my son and a Monster Energy can for this tune. It’s the heaviest track on the album and was such a dream-team to work with. CLYPSO is one of my favourite new acts, she has such a unique sound and absolutely crushes it on stage!

Speaking of crushing it, Raven Felix knocked this one out of the park. That verse is such a beast! This is the third track that I worked on with Shockone. It was such a pleasure working with him, wish we had time to make a whole album together.

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#10. ‘Close Enough’ (feat. Caly Bevier)

I love the blurry area where underground music and pop intersect. That’s how this one started, just creating contrast between that big Persian Santoor section at the beginning, the 808 bass, and the super bright pop vocals.

This song was written by LYRE and sung by Caly Bevier. Caly is such an incredible character. At just 18 years old she’s beaten cancer, performed on the Ellen show, she’s been a semi-finalist on America’s Got Talent. Her future is so bright and it’s an honour to have her on this track.

That’s my son Koa at the end too.

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#11. ‘TBH’ (feat. Safa Gaw & Gladiator)

This started out as a collab between Gladiator and I. I’ve been a big fan of those guys for a while so I was super stoked when they hit me up. I played an early instrumental version of this at Splendour In The Grass a couple years ago.

It went down really well but I thought it could be better with vocals (this is actually how I feel about every track).

Gladiator and I passed it back and forward a few times trying to add a sample before the drop but we could never agree on one. I sent it to Safa Gaw, a rapper from the Bronx, and what he sent back was a unanimous ‘yes please’ from us all.

Oh and that’s my dog, Chilli, growling during the outro.

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#12. ‘Act My Age’ (feat. Sydnee Carter)

I made so many versions of this track before simplifying it down to this one. I knew there was a good song in there but I really had to work hard to find the right palette for it. This was another one written by LYRE, they’re such talented songwriters. I’ve loved working with them.

The key thing that I learned was that it’s ok to change; in fact it’s a good and necessary part of life.

The vocalist is Sydnee Carter, who I first heard on Slumberjack’s EP and then saw perform live during a Hot Dub Time Machine show. Her voice is so powerful, I’m so glad she was the one to bring this song to life.

Also, the post-hook in the final chorus was written by Chela, who was on the very first Paces track ever!

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#13. ‘Material World’ (feat. Reija Lee & H.D.)

This is probably my favourite track from the album. The hook was written by NYNE and features Reija Lee. I love her delivery on this. She has this ethereal, otherworldly magic to her voice. Fun fact – this is the third time Reija has graced one of my songs, making her one of my most frequent collaborators!

The verses are from Atlanta duo H&D. I was a fan and just reached out to them via SoundCloud I think, not expecting a reply. When they hit me back with these vocals I could not believe my luck. I can’t wait to hear more from these guys.

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#14. ‘Triggered’ (feat. Esther Sparkes)

Esther and I toured together for a year after my first album (which she was also on). She is such a natural performer; you can always rely on her to give 120 percent on stage.

This was one of the first tracks I wrote with ZAG in mind. I wrote it while on holiday in Bali. Sonically, it set the tone for the rest of the album: pretty harmonies and abrasive sounds coexisting.

The reprise section at the end began as a joke. Esther likes her vocals to sound natural, so I made a version with extremely heavy auto-tune just for a laugh. I really loved how it sounded so I turned it into this outro (thanks for being cool about it Essie!).

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In Summary, It’s Okay To Change

During the two years since my debut album was released, I entered the most intense period of change I’ve ever gone through.

I became a dad, I was playing bigger shows, I had some big personal crises, I was in therapy for much of the time, I put myself through a Berklee College music course, got deeper into fitness and changed my diet, signed a global publishing deal… so much was changing. Including the music I was writing.

The key thing that I learned was that it’s ok to change; in fact it’s a good and necessary part of life. With that lesson in mind, I wrote this album.

And now it’s yours <3