Review Summary: Zola Jesus sheds away the darkness.
"Goth is back." That utterance has been frequently employed when talking about Zola Jesus, the solo project of Wisconsin native Nika Roza Danilova. Danilova certainly seems to play the part of your stereotypical 'goth'; when she was 14, she started telling people at school to call her Zola Jesus - "so they would stop talking to me," she explained in a recent interview, adding, "I don't like humans very much." Her debut LP,
The Spoils, was a defiantly messy affair, filled with grim, lo-fi atmospherics that repeatedly threatened to swallow Danilova up whole - but they never did. No matter how sonically dense they were, the songs still had Danilova's immensely powerful voice to hold them down.
That demonstrative voice became the focal point of Danilova's work with the release of
Stridulum earlier this year. The EP was a significantly cleaner affair, abandoning the more grimy textures of
The Spoils in favor of ominous synth tones and insistent beats. It was an impressive leap forward for the 21-year-old, but the songs were ultimately slight and unfocused, the melodies too limp to hold much interest. With
Valusia, her newest EP, Danilova addresses those flaws; the record's four songs all show tremendous musical growth. Opener "Poor Animal" is more welcoming than anything Zola Jesus has ever released before, notably including a live string section alongside neon streaks of sound. With its four-on-the-floor beat, it's practically a dance track - albeit one darkly colored by the lyric "we are all delusional".
It's notable that
Valusia is yet another step away from the darkness and fog that defined Danilova's early work. But her sound is no less compelling as it gets more accessible; on the contrary, the warmer melodies on these songs make Zola Jesus' sound more immediately gripping. The lyrics are less inane this time around - rather than singing about how "it's not easy to fall in love," Danilova is asking questions. Not particularly tough questions, mind you, but questions nonetheless; on "Sea Talk", she bellows affectingly, "Do you understand that I don't have a choice 'cause.. do you want to know?" Surrounded by lush harmonies (in major keys, no less!) and a propulsive beat, Danilova sounds simultaneously unsure of herself and completely comfortable in her own skin. Lines are repeated deliberately and take on a haunting quality; on the startlingly bare closer "Lightsick", Danilova sings "when the lights go out on us", over and over. She lands on that last word with splendid fervor, and we are left wondering if she's ecstatic or heartbroken.
It's this emotional depth that sets this EP apart as Zola Jesus' best work yet. Whereas
Stridulum sometimes felt confined by its self-consciously dark and brooding tone,
Valusia sounds liberated and, if not entirely unique, remarkably self-assured. So no, contrary to what the press may say, Zola Jesus is not simply a goth. Nor is she the next Kate Bush, Fever Ray, or Depeche Mode. Zola Jesus is nobody but herself, and her music is all the better because of it.
