Zola Jesus’ journey towards pristine, icy synth perfection continues apace with her latest offering, ‘Taiga‘.
A record full of intrigue and drama that entices the listener in with its pop sheen, only to then grip them vice like with its subversive power.
The record, on the face of it, appears to mine similar territory to acts like The xx, only on a far more epic scale and with a grander perspective. It may be walking the same path, but it leaves far greater footprints.
Zola Jesus seems to be playing all her cards on ‘Taiga’; every single track is bursting with power and emotion, from the subversive indie-pop of ‘Dangerous Days’, to the crescendo of ‘Lawless’, it is a record of real beauty and power. But it is also a record of rhythms and textures, from the edgy break beats on the titular opener and the almost dubstep stylings of ‘Dust’; to the haunting ‘Hollow’ and the wonderfully lush ‘Ego’, and even the rousing ‘Lawless’.
This is all summed up during ‘Go (Blank Sea)’, a track full of passion and heart with its almost gospel like call-and-response style chorus, but performed with a truly icy veneer. It is Zola Jesus frozen in a moment and preserved for future generations to study at their leisure.
With moments like this scattered throughout, it is impossible not to be beguiled, like when you hit a moment such as the utterly mesmerizing ‘Long Way Down’, a majestic track that works equally as well as an underground stunner or a classic pop tune. It is possibly Zola Jesus’ defining moment.
The precise, crisp production and sound throughout the record is simply enchanting. It is an album of corners and edges. Corners turned in development and advancement, and edges peered over, or jumped off. A brave record, in that it takes difficult moments and ideas, and attempts to make them wholly accessible to the widest possible audience. But this bravery, in trying to make such heartfelt music sound almost light and appealing, pays off time and time again.
Yes, it does sound almost like Pink performing Fever Ray songs, but this turns out to be a brilliant formula. Giving challenging songs a commonality, an appeal, that they could never gain if robbed of this softness and sensuality. The record’s heart comes from its accessibility; rather than shutting out the audience, and wallowing in the pain, Zola Jesus is opening her heart for all to see.
It is still an album full of experimentation and ethereal, almost dream-like music, but one with the darkest of hearts. Swinging wildly between the ambient musings of ‘Tangerine Dream‘ to the Gothic paranoia of ‘Goblin‘, it pulls no punches in what it is trying to achieve musically, and Zola Jesus’ ability to not just balance such weighty influences, but soften them, makes this album the success it is.
This is extremely stylised and precise music, nothing is off-the-cuff or thrown away, nothing is left to chance, and no opportunities are wasted. With every careful step of the way it seizes each opportunity to impress. The music is inviting and exciting, even when it is at its most distant or dark. Zola Jesus has created a sound that may incorporate the bleak intensity of real pain, but it is done through the eyes of hope. It may be mired in the darkest depths, but it is an album that has its gaze firmly locked on the light up above.
And it is this determined vision and belief that really makes this album a powerful and beautiful experience for any audience.