Shanghai-based, New Zealand-born singer, songwriter, and producer Julius Black returns with his new single “French Quarter,” alongside a music video via the newly relaunched Cantora label house by Rostrum Records. Produced and directed by longtime collaborator Struan Finlay, the track blends alternative pop and R&B over a reverb-soaked piano to capture the quiet, lingering nostalgia of heartbreak, mourning small everyday losses from a partner’s smile to their dog. The accompanying visual brings that isolation into focus, following Black as he drifts past the fading neon lights of Shanghai’s former French Concession, the very neighbourhood that inspired the song’s title and emotional weight.
“French Quarter” offers a fresh preview of Black’s debut album Oh, Desire, now scheduled for release in spring 2027 following a period of creative refinement. A classically trained musician raised between China and New Zealand, Black weaves together influences ranging from Bach and Mozart to Frank Ocean, James Blake, and Wong Kar-wai cinema, pairing warm falsettos with warped electronic textures while singing in both English and Mandarin.
Reflecting on the origins of the track, Black shares, “I’d just moved back to Shanghai and was seeing someone who lived in the former French Concession. It was winter, and I spent so much time on the train just to go see her. The song started as a poem that felt really romantic. When I gave it to Struan, he built this beautiful synth soundscape around it that felt so ‘Oh, Desire’ coded.”
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French Quarter is out now
