Zeus

Hailing from Canada, indie rock group Zeus has earned notice for its layered three-part vocal harmonies, grounded roots leanings, and upbeat power pop melodies. The band took form in 2009 after serving as the touring unit behind Jason Collett, quickly gaining notice through its take on the Genesis track “That’s All.” In addition to ongoing collaborations with Collett, the outfit has delivered multiple albums that drew strong praise, among them Busting Visions from 2010, issued via Arts & Crafts.

Childhood friends Mike O’Brien and Carlin Nicholson, each already a decade into the Toronto music community, were enlisted in 2009 by mutual contact Afie Jurvanen to back Broken Social Scene’s Jason Collett. Operating at first under the name Paso Mino, the musicians spent several years on the road with Collett. During breaks they began casually tracking material together, and once they recognized the promise of those songs they brought in drummer Rob Drake and multi-instrumentalist Neil Quin to complete the lineup. Zeus made its introduction that summer with the Arts & Crafts EP Sounds Like Zeus, whose highlight was a version of the Genesis hit “That’s All” that helped draw wider attention. The band’s first full-length effort, Say Us, followed on the same label in February 2010.

Zeus resurfaced two years afterward with Busting Visions, an album that received warm critical notices and an equally positive fan reaction. One year after its launch the record was re-released in expanded form, bundled with a seven-track bonus EP containing the group’s renditions of songs by Michael Jackson, Big Star, Genesis, and R. Kelly, among others. After lengthy touring in support of Busting Visions, the members returned to their Ill Eagle Recording Studio to begin the next project. Classic Zeus, whose title belied the fact that it contained eleven newly written tracks, appeared on Arts & Crafts in September 2014. Following further road work with Collett in 2016, Zeus delivered its fourth studio album, Venus.