Zedd Reveals Why He Thought His New “Telos” Album 'Would Be My Last Piece of Music' (Exclusive)

The DJ/producer opens up to PEOPLE about the road to his long-awaited third album

Zedd's new album is finally here.

Nine years after his last full-length project of original material, 2015's True Colors, the 35-year-old German DJ/producer (whose real name is Anton Zaslavski) released his third album, Telos, on Aug. 30.

The 10-track body of work features guest appearances from John Mayer, Muse, Remi Wolf, Bea Miller and others, and its title represents two meanings for the Grammy winner — one being the completion of a goal.

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"Another meaning of Telos is 'the end,' and I, for a minute, thought maybe this would be my last piece of music that I would ever release," Zedd tells PEOPLE of the Greek term. "I was really overworked, I was burned out, and musically I felt like I had poured my entire soul into this album and have nothing left to say."

While the "Clarity" artist took nearly a decade between albums, he remained busy in the interim, touring consistently and notching several massive hits, including "Stay" with Alessia Cara and "The Middle" with Maren Morris and Grey.

When it came to making a new album, Zedd was determined to craft a project with a narrative connecting each song and a unique sound combining orchestral and electronic genres. "I really wanted this album to be perfect, and it required just a ton more work," he says.

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Thankfully, he's changed his mind since finishing Telos. "I had a little week to breathe," he says. "I've already started writing new music, so I'm happy to say it's not the end yet."

The album was preceded by two singles, "Out of Time" with Miller and "Lucky" with Wolf — for which Zedd recently teamed up with Intel to create an interactive AI experience bringing the Telos cover to life.

After nearly releasing the full project with no leading track, Zedd realized his fans wanted an early taste and chose both songs meticulously to introduce the world of Telos.

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"'Out of Time' sets the mood. It's the beginning of the album, and it really sort of has a little bit of everything. It has that theatrical bit, a drop, a really emotional and super strong vocal," he explains. "I think 'Lucky' represents more so the fun, pop side of the album, and everything else on the album lives somewhere between those two worlds."

Making the record was an excruciating process for Zedd, but his thoughts about nearly releasing Telos as a send-off to his career is part of what's made the final project so rewarding for him to share with listeners.

"If you know that something is going to be the last thing you ever do, you better make it perfect," he says. "Part of the perfection that I see in this album comes from the feeling of, 'This may be like my legacy. I better do exactly what I want to do with this album.'"

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