ZOLA JESUS
Dark, symphonic pop that haunts and mesmerises in equal measure. “ORIGINALLY I WANTED TO BE AN OPERA
SINGER.”
“When I Was depressed and on tour, I used to listen to Buddhist chants, light a candle and be very silent before going on stage. Making music is so exposing and I’ve been trying to retain as much anonymity as I can,” reveals shy yet composed singer Nika Roza Danilova.
For over a decade, the woman performing under the name Zola Jesus has been developing a magnetic presence in the underground electronica scene. Blending piano, synthesisers and a strong vocal range, her albums have varied from industrial noise with The Spoils (2009) to dream pop with Conatus (2011).
“Originally I wanted to be an opera singer, but I fell out of love with that medium,” she says. “Zola Jesus was a way to establish a connection in music that wasn’t based on singing other people’s songs.”
Before recording her sixth work Okovi – her heaviest and darkest yet – she returned to her Wisconsin roots. Surrounded by two hundred acres of forest and solitude, Danilova recalls a sense of freedom.“I felt very liberated and I wasn’t thinking so much about the outside world. I could go weeks without seeing another person. This allowed me to really do what I wanted to do,” she explains.
The artistic result is a mature expression of brittle sadness and redemption, as the singer channels her personal painful experiences through each track.
“For this album, I used the music as a tool to heal and reconcile with the things going through my life. It’s hard to perform these songs and even talk about them because they are so deeply personal.”
In the song Exhumed, the only release from the murky electronic distortion of the string quartet is the cathartic vocals that smash through the musical oppression. The track is accompanied by an artistic monochrome music video by long-time collaborator Jacqueline Castel, in which Zola Jesus appears as a haunting white figure climbing out of an open grave.
“In the past, I’ve tried to create things that are beyond my comfort zone, like pop, because I feel like that’s where true growth happens, but I’m much more attracted to darker music.”
Describing her Ukrainian and Slovenian family heritage, Eastern European folk music and black metal as influences for the album, Zola Jesus has firmly plunged into her darkest (dis)comfort zone.
“I use music to metabolise things that I understand better, whether it’s anxiety or sadness and confusion. I made pop music because I thought that if I dressed it up, it might seem more light-hearted and I would get away with it more. Who knows what I will do in the future!” ILd