ZOLA JESUS

Club

: Standing

Price: 17,- € + 1,7 € presale fee

Time: Show: 20.30 hrs
Doors: 20.00 hrs

Support: EMINA HELENA
Organized by: Rockhal

Review

In the last three years, Nika Roza Danilova, known by the stage name of Zola Jesus, has gone from being an outsider, experimental, teenage noise-maker to a fully-fledged, internationally-celebrated, electronic-pop musician. On 30 November 2011, she will present her dark crafted music comprising operatic vocals to the audience of the Rockhal.

Zola Jesus is not a singer, she is a musician. Zola Jesus is not a band, it is a solo project. That is not to say the people who have helped her along the way were not deeply important. Her irreplaceable live band (whose drummer Nick Johnson lends a hand on several tracks here) and her friend Brian Foote (who co-produced this album), in addition to the live string players who contribute here (Sean McCann, Ryan York), were all crucial in the process. Still, Nika is a woman who can command a room, any room, without needing a band, a stage, or even a microphone. Her voice is unmistakable; it cuts right to the core.

Darkwave, electro-goth, witch house, ambient industrial, post-punk, neo-classical... the list of obscure, exhaustive categorizations for Zola Jesus could go on for a while, but it seems to be the most simple means of describing her music.

"Conatus", here newest album was recently presented to the public at the "Berghain", a Berlin based club not really harmonizing with the hymns of loneliness of her lyrics. During her shows, she certainly resembles a ghost with her white dress and sluggish opera-like movements. Nonetheless the new album is a huge leap forward in production, instrumentation and song structure. The definition of the title says it all: the will to keep on, to move forward. From thumping ballads to electronic glitch, no sound goes unexplored on her new record. It is an icy exploration in refined chaos and controlled madness, an effort to break through capability and access a sonic world that crumbles as it shines.

On 30 November 2011 you are invited to come and see Zola Jesus live on stage. The latest queen of the dark scene will haunt the Rockhal audience with her gloom-pop sound.