Neal Francis Releases New Single “What’s Left Of Me” and Announces New Album Return to Zero For March 2025 Release

Singer-songwriter-pianist Neal Francis is ringing in the new year with his eagerly anticipated third studio album, Return to Zero, arriving Friday, March 14, via ATO Records. Pre-orders are available now. The album is heralded by the premiere of the gorgeously sprawling power pop anthem “What’s Left Of Me,” available everywhere now. A piercingly candid reflection on life on the road co-written with chart-topping Nashville-based songwriter Chris Gelbuda (known for his work with Sabrina Carpenter, Meghan Trainor and Zac Brown Band), the track is accompanied by a music video. Watch below:

“Chris and I are good friends and we got to talking about the challenges of being in a committed relationship while you’re on tour,” says Francis on the track. “A lot of these songs were influenced by Electric Light Orchestra and the way Jeff Lynne synthesizes classical music and pop songwriting, and ‘What’s Left Of Me’ was definitely one where I was going for an ELO vibe.”

To say Electric Light Orchestra was an influence on “What’s Left Of Me” is definitely an understatement. The instrumentals in the single are powerful and deliberate, hitting their respective marks in perfect harmony. Francis’s voice is lilting and carefree, while the lyrics seem to be more melodramatic than the instrumentals make the song appear. Francis sings, “But now I’m on a plane to Mexico / I just go where they’re telling me to go / I’ll call you later maybe, I don’t know / There’s not enough time” just before the final chorus and when the song comes to a crashing, sudden, painfully obvious halt.

Francis’s first full-length studio album in more than three years and his most extravagantly realized work so far, Return to Zero sees the Chicago-based singer-songwriter-pianist creating a beautifully strange entangling of timeless rock’n’roll and ‘70s-era dance music. Merging supremely heavy guitar riffs with lush and pulsating grooves, Francis constructed the album without digital programming as part of his long-standing devotion to all things analog. 

Co-produced by Francis alongside frequent collaborator Sergio Rios and recorded live in the studio with members of his touring band, Return to Zero is further highlighted by the playfully swaggering, deliberately over-the-top confession of romantic desperation, “Back It Up,” joined by an official music video directed by Alec Basse and streaming now.

Francis will celebrate Return to Zero with an epic international tour schedule that will see him traversing the globe through 2025 and beyond, with full details to be announced soon. The first leg of North American headline dates begins March 20 in Cleveland, OH, and continues through mid-April. There are a couple of Japanese headline shows that will be following the second US headline tour, as well as an array of festival performances from January until May. For complete details and ticket information, visit Neal Francis’s website.

Return to Zero tracklist:

1. Need You Again
2. Don’t Wait
3. Broken Glass
4. Back It Up
5. What’s Left Of Me
6. 150 More Times
7. Dance Through Life
8. Dirty Little Secret
9. Already Gone
10. Can’t Get Enough
11. Return To Zero