Today's Pick

Remember when ABC Family used ZZ Ward's soulful title track "Til The Casket Drops" in the haunting promo for their smash hit series "Pretty Little Liars" Season 3 in 2012? Well, the network has once again turned to the talented crooner by tapping Ward's new single, "Last Love Song," and to set the mood for the upcoming Summer Season 5, which returns on Tuesday, June 10th. Be sure to tune in for a crazy time, dolls! Along with the exciting ad placement, Ward's emotional single has also received a proper music video, premiering exclusively on Billboard.com.
Penned by Ward herself, and produced by Ryan Tedder and his OneRepublic band mate Brent Kutzle, "Last Love Song" is the third single and a highlight from pop-rock singer-songwriter's debut album, "Til The Casket Drops." Lyrically, it finds her singing about a post-relationship retrospective. The breakup ballad is easily the most heart-wrenching of the three. It pulls the emotional strings in this stirring and chill-inducing song, making it the perfect fit for the ups and downs of the popular characters' relationship.
Basically, the emotional charged guitar driven number is suitably romantic with Ward's raw-soulful vocals and bittersweet lyrics. In a recently interview with Ward, she stated that she chose "Last Love Song" as the next single because it would show fans her more vulnerable side, and she was right. "I'm so excited about the video for 'Last Love Song,'" says the musically gifted songbird. "Its message is something I think a lot of people can relate to. I wanted to convey that message and the song's raw emotion in a way that would connect with my fans just as much as the music and lyrics do."
Filmed in both Los Angeles and San Francisco with director Joseph Toman, and the beautiful black-and-white clip for "Last Love Song," is beautiful in its simplicity, showing a more vulnerable side to the sultry, soul-rocker's raw and vulnerable breakup ballad and gives the first glimpse at Ward without her signature fedora. The heartrendering clip also makes perfect sense when placed next to Pretty Little Liars' ongoing saga that chronicle the roller coaster love story between Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale) and Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding).

With her Freddie Gibbs ("Criminal") and Kendrick Lamar ("Cryin’ Wolf") assisted genre-blending debut album "Til the Casket Drops" still receiving plays around since last October, the buzzing blue-eyed soul singer ZZ Ward drops off the official video to her Hip-Hop influenced album's closing track, "365 Days." An eclectic and innovative performer, Ward's mix of backporch blues and gritty hip-hop beats has been resonating with both fans and critics alike.
The song "365 Days," written by Ward, showcases her soulful voice, keyboard prowess and echoes a sentiment of empowerment as a bad relationship fizzles, making the song not only relatable but a fan favorite. Ward herself said "'365 Days' was the perfect song to end my record with. It's about waiting around for someone too long. JP Keller's (from Blended Babies) guitar solo ends the song with a perfected clumsiness it's right on the edge of falling apart. They really think about the story when they produce, just like it my lyrics, and it shows."
On Booth debut "Lil Darlin'," featured back in November of 2012, Ward pleaded with her man to "please, please, please quite draggin' [her] heart through them coals." Evidently he didn't listen; sick of waiting on him to change, the Hollywood Records signee unceremoniously cuts him loose on the newly-released "365 Days." The Blended Babies' rhythmic piano chords back Ward as she shows her two-timing fella the door, delivering her kiss-offs in a smoky vocal style sure to elicit a few comparisons to Adele. Ward soulfully takes to the streets with her grand piano in this optical illusion of a music video for "365 Days."
Featuring some trippy, Inception-esque special effects, the Ramon & Pedro-directed official visuals offer an imaginative illustration of the record's theme and shows a poised Ward as the relationship spirals (literally) to its end as the Oregon-born singer playing the keys on the sunny streets while the city stays buzzing. The video plays back a year in the dysfunctional relationship—making excuses for your man over and over and over so many times that it literally has you spinning on your head. Don't get dizzy watching this one, and we hope we're never on the wrong side of the breakup with this girl.

Rising eclectic pop singer-songwriter ZZ Ward has blown us away with her bluesy take on R&B and hip-hop, and the LA-based, Oregon-raised artist wows us again as she shows off what she refers to as "Dirty Shine" in the music video for her swampy "Put The Gun Down," a boot-stomping rocker off her full-length debut album, "Til the Casket Drops," which she said "is about going to war for someone that you love. You have to fight for great love sometimes. I feel like I really just embraced who I was, even if it's different, on this record."
The gender-blending artist is one whose artistry spins on a luminous axis of voice and soul, is truly unlike anyone else working in music today. Her fierce stage presence and no holds barred approach to storytelling has set her apart from her peers. Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Roseburg, Oregon, Ward's musical influences from her father who wrote songs and played harmonica in blues bands, but it was old school masters from her parent's vinyl collection that first intrigued Ward. "It was the authenticity," she recalls, "the soulfulness."
Paired with her subsequent connection to the Eugene, Oregon, a hip-hop community, to write and perform hooks at high-energy, rap shows. This rhythmic journey, combined with her bluesy upbringing, would become essential in laying the foundation for her signature "dirty blues and beats" sound. While Ward is now at home on stage in reverential Los Angeles listening rooms, she was schooled in smokey dive bars and juke joints across the Pacific Northwest - anywhere she could sing.
Driving fog-shrouded logging roads to gigs, hauling gear and setting up the sound system before playing three hours a night, Ward is battle-tested. "I'm proud of the fact that I've done a lot," she says. "I've paid dues and I'm still paying dues. I put albums together and sold them in parking lots. It was hard to go up to strangers and talk about music, but it made me tough." The new video for "Put the Gun Down" was directed by Alex Bulkley, and it shows off Ward's hard hitting zeal closely reminiscent of Adele and Christina Aguilera and performing "Put The Gun Down" with her four-piece backing band.