Album Review: Zola Jesus Confronts Life And Death In “Okovi”
Zola Jesus is a bad-ass, and her new album, Okovi, plays like the best Manga anyone can buy. You just imagine a bunch of fierce Anime characters breaking into labs and AI factories to destroy every plan against humanity. Yes, this vivid picture plays into Okovi because absolutely every track is made to summon your inner fight.
How many times have you looked back on a tense situation and wished you spoke or defended your honor? We all have instances where we feel like we failed the dignity of ourselves and others, but Zola Jesus’ Okovi is all about the recuperation of such esteems. “Doma”, “Veka”, and “Half Life” are like the sonic back-drops to a film fight. Synths are steamed into rhythms as if they have been pressed into each song until they have been perfectly singed together. The darkness of her sound can only be described as a beautiful nightmare like, an angel swimming through blackwater to find her light again. Zola Jesus’ ability to make fright sound like a dreamy sonic intoxicates listeners who will want to drink up songs such as “NMO”, “Ash To Bone”, and “Remains” as if they were sweet poison. To Zola the record is a deeply personal snapshot of loss, reconciliation, and a sympathy for the chains that keep us all grounded to the unforgiving laws of nature; each of us born with a unique debt we have to pay until we dies. The record is a surprising, inadvertent testament to karma and destiny; with Zola singing to moments of spiritual loss and rebirth as if she were recognizing they are unavoidable facts to life. We all change as persons, and we do so because tragedy and victory are solidly intertwined in our life’s tale. Okovi shows this through instrumentals that seed like mystic fog from a cauldron, and Zola Jesus’ voice only adds to this bewitching album.
You ever hear an artist and say, “Yup, this is definitely the music you should be making!”. You simply hear their songs, and feel the connection and genuineness of their art. Okovi, as an artistic entity, is purely Zola Jesus. It embodies her essence as an artist/ inquisitive being, and elaborates, again, the “badassery” of her voice. She ninjas notes with a switch blade of precise, but gashing cuts. She just appears as if she is climbing down into a wormhole between tenor and mezz-soprano to create a set of vocal pipes that feel airily blackened. The result is an album you will play when you wish to relive every moment you did not stand, and make an oath that, in the next one, you will. For More Information on Zola Jesus and To Buy Okovi on September 8 Click Here.
