March 13, 2010

ZOLA JESUS - The Stridulum EP (Sacred Bones)




Nika Danilova is Zola Jesus.She lives in New York.She is barely of drinking age,and already has 5 or so killer releases under her belt.Her cousin is Dead Luke.She plays in Former Ghosts with members of Xiu Xiu and This Song Is A Mess But So Am I.As well as Nika+Rory,and Pris/Cog.This girl is on top of shit right now,and her music is only getting better and more defined with each release.

On her latest opus,Stridulum, Nika and the band seem to be floating towards a more cohesive and somewhat polished studio sound.Not to say that this is in ANY way a bad thing for them.It's not.The songs on Stridulum are solid as ever.They have a clarity that you can't really find on past ZJ records.There is still a deep sense of the cavernous ambiance that made The Spoils so great,but everything is pushed to the foreground this time,instead of looming beneath the vocals and blurry layers of synths.Her vocals are a perfect for this kind of production.Much clearer than their previous albums.She's perfected her Siouxie-like croon,and given it more depth and tonality here.There's some nice harmonies that show off her voice control and range.Her words pleasantly wash over brooding waves of synths,chants,and thick,primitive electro thumps.

Stridulum is by no means her first "proper" album,it's a 6 song ep.But this is Zola Jesus' finest hour.These songs will leave you empty,yet hopeful.Dark sounds for cold nights.But,through the obvious gloom and doom,they are uplifting and radiant.They are perfecting their craft at every turn.A fantastic piece of work by an extremely talented young woman,and she is is just getting started.Thank you for Zola Jesus.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow..this sounds like its 30 yrs old.I'm all about it.I want it all!hehee
thanks,
Gina