Conatus

Zola Jesus

Nika Roza Danilova, otherwise known as Zola Jesus, I find to be an intriguing figure in the underground music scene. Her voice is so incredibly unique; powerful and open like an opera singer. Her voice also offers a bright counterpoint to the often murky, and dark production she performs over. It is quite a peculiar mix of sounds that I find appealing. As Conatus just celebrated its tenth anniversary and it was the first full Zola Jesus project I had experienced, I've been reflecting on it a little bit recently. Where time often reveals that I have a tendency to over appreciate some records initially, I was happy to reaffirm that this record is still quite good.

I still really enjoy Vessel with its glitchy industrial noise loops and the dramatic piano chords that are very reminiscent of Massive Attack's Teardrop. The use of glitchy noise loops return later on the track Shivers and they actually play an important rhythmic role considering the only other percussion used are these boomy electronic kicks. While on the subject, a lot of the instrumentation is quite synthetic, however, there are moments where there are some more natural sounding instruments that makes for memorable moments. Tracks like Hikikomori due to it's very rich and relatively unprocessed drum sounds, and the life like string sounds on In Your Nature are really good examples of this.

Some of my favourite tracks vocally on this record are Avalanche and the closer Collapse. The vocals on the former sound like Zola Jesus is a ghostly spirit. The main vocal line has this airy reverb applied to it and the way her vocals swell in and out paint this picture that she is having trouble maintaining her metaphysical presence. Then there's Collapse which from the very first time I heard it, is the record's most immediate cut. I find the vocals here to be the song's driving force as the instrumentation doesn't really progress from the stark droning synths. The subtle changing of melodies and the belts growing more powerful makes the song deeply affecting in my opinion and the powerful harmonies that accompany in the last few moments are so joyous, it feels like I'm floating.

Getting reacquainted with this album has revealed that there are two songs that I'm not super keen on. One of which is Ixode. The main synth line is pretty rudimentary and I'm also not a huge fan of the repeating line of gibberish that she sings throughout the song. The song that follows, Seekir, is another of my least favourite tracks. The new wave style on this track is quite bland and this one also features my least favourite vocal melodies and performances on the record. A lesser gripe I have is the production at times. The vocal recordings are not the greatest, sometimes lacking in compression and leading to some drastically fluctuating vocal levels. The mixing as well is also a little spotty as some elements stick out like a sore thumb from time to time. In any case, Conatus was a step in the right direction for Zola Jesus. It was a much stronger recording and production effort compared to her debut (I would later learn), and the development of a great, unique sound that melds the darkness of gothic post-punk and new wave with more vivid vocals and classical strings.