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Biografía
Brought up in the country, Zola Jesus began studying music and singing at the age of seven. Determined to sing opera, the young artist taught herself to sing from tapes and sheet music before eventually working with a vocal coach. A series of anxiety-related setbacks put the singer’s opera career on hold and she was forced to re-imagine her musical career.
Starting to experiment with rock music, the singer chose the stage name Zola Jesus and began playing gigs while in college. Determined to get her music out into the world, Zola Jesus began recording her own work from her home with the use of drum machines and any other instrument she could come by.
The singer self-recorded her debut album “The Spoils” in 2009, which picked up a number of fans and extensive attention from music industry professionals. Prepared to do it herself from the very start of her career, Zola Jesus has now released a handful of studio albums and EPs. Two of the singer’s albums - “Conatus” and “Taiga” - have reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Heatseekers chart, and won Zola Jesus ever-increasing industry attention.
Zola Jesus has played extensively throughout the US at various venues as well as festivals such as SXSW. The singer has also toured Europe as a supporting artist for Fever Ray and the xx.
A philosophy student, Zola Jesus has explained that the inspiration for her unique musical style comes from the philosophical concept of Situationism, which encourages artists to live their art. Equal parts performance theatre and musical artistry, Zola Jesus’ style has been compared to Florence Welch, Kate Bush and Joy Division.
Críticas en vivo
Zola Jesus played at The Moore Theater in Seattle in 2012. Her usually blonde hair was a light brown and she stood in front an orchestra complete with a director. Percussion pounds like a marching drum, a high pitched violin pierces the ears, and a booming voice from a petite and beautiful woman fills the air. Zola Jesus sounds like a mix between Tori Amos and Florence Welch.
Dressed hip enough to fit in with the rest of the Western US, she doesn't quite fit in with the suits of the orchestra. The venue is almost as beautiful as Zola Jesus' voice with a high and elaborately detailed atrium, decorated with elegant chandeliers and statues. Truly haunting and intriguing, the venue is perfect for a performer like this. Rather than compete, however, the orchestra, architecture, and Zola Jesus complement each other like a puzzle that's finally been pieced together. Reviewers praise Zola Jesus in nearly every review and she even impressed the tough crowd over at Pitchfork. As her voice gets louder and louder, it's obvious that Zola Jesus had experience singing opera growing up. She would release her fourth album a year after this performance, called Versions and once again impressed the critics.
*Taiga*, Zola Jesus’ latest album, is a good fit for a performance by an orchestra. I’m sure, she will arrange this at some point, but for now the economics of touring require a smaller setting: a four piece horn section, a keyboarder and a stand-up drummer with a custom build kit mostly consisting of toms and electronic pads. It is the perfect band to play the sound of *Taiga*.
Front and center, however, is Zola Jesus herself. She may have had stage fright in the beginning of her career, but by now she has a presence that easily fills a venue like Webster Hall. Dressed in some sort of black samurai kimono she used the entire stage, at times reciting her songs like a priest at the mic stand, sometimes shaking hands with the audience and then throwing around her long hair like a madwoman. Only the drummer, producing out those complex beats with precision, could at times snatch away a little bit of the attention.
In the main set she played exclusively songs from *Taiga*, only in the encore we were treated to two previous hits, *Vessel* from *Conatus* and *Night* from *Stridulum*, the song that turned me into a Zola Jesus fan.
oliverbo
Zola was amazing live. Her vocals were perfect and really come across better in the live setting. Her backup band was really good, especially her drummer. I spent most of the show watching him go while listening to her sing. I'd definitely see her again when she comes back.
Interstatebus
By far one of the best gigs I've attended in ages. The venue was amazing and staff were really friendly. Zola Jesus herself made the night engaging with the entire audience she put one hell of a show on and would recommend anyone to go see her if you have the chance
richard-craven
fantastic performance at mississippi studios...what a lovely powerful voice!!!top notch performance...a must see artist..plenty of swirling and a long set including a few encore songs to finish off the show with a strong force
beth-dolos
