- Jeff Elstone
- Nika Roza Danilova, aka Zola Jesus
I was pretty surprised the first couple of times I listened to Taiga (Mute), the latest album from Wisconsin native Nika Roza Danilova (aka Zola Jesus). Her voice remains as dramatic and forceful as ever, with a strong thread of viscous darkness, but her songs trade in her old goth introversion for something bright, larger-than-life, and, at times, seriously hooky. Some of the songs shoot for wide-angle pop, propelled by big electronic-dance-music beats and the singer’s even bigger, brassier voice, replete with bittersweet, soaring harmony overdubs and phrasing that clearly borrows some of its swoops and curlicues from modern R&B. It’s a relatively shocking shift from the music on her last record, Versions (Sacred Bones), where she collaborated with J.G. Thirwell (aka Foetus) and Mivos Quartet, one of the most daring contemporary classical string quartets at work these days.
Today’s playlist:
