Zola Jesus

Nika Roza Danilova records as Zola Jesus, shaping somber yet hopeful soundscapes built around her operatic singing and keyboards. Even as her early lo-fi bedroom recordings gave way to the refined studio approach of 2017’s Okovi and the layered, expansive structures of 2022’s Arkhon, the commanding presence of her voice and her fusion of electronic, industrial, and classical elements stayed constant.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona and raised in Merrill, Wisconsin, Danilova displayed an early passion for singing, acquiring voice-lesson tapes and opera sheet music at age seven. She then studied with a vocal coach for the following decade. The anxiety and rivalry of opera led her to pause singing for several years, yet the absence of that outlet prompted her to launch Zola Jesus. Drawing from Diamanda Galás, Lydia Lunch, Throbbing Gristle, and Swans, she produced cathartic home recordings with keyboards, drum machines, and household items while attending the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Her initial official releases comprised two 2008 7"s: the Poor Sons EP on Die Stasi and Soeur Sewer on Sacred Bones. After transferring to the University of Wisconsin Madison, she tracked her debut album in 2009; Sacred Bones issued The Spoils that July, highlighting greater vocal focus and cleaner production than her prior work (Sacred Bones later reissued the album in 2010 with additional tracks from Poor Sons and Soeur Sewer). Also in 2009, Zola Jesus released the Tsar Bomba EP on Troubleman, New Amsterdam on Sacred Bones, a limited-edition untitled vinyl album, and a split with Burial Hex on Aurora Borealis. Danilova further performed with Former Ghosts alongside Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart and Freddy Ruppert.

Danilova completed a double major in French and philosophy at university in 2010 while maintaining an intensive schedule of releases and performances. The Stridulum EP appeared that March; titled after Giulio Paradisi’s 1979 horror film, it removed the dense noise of earlier material to spotlight her voice and songwriting. She next issued the Valusia EP and, that July, joined Pocahaunted’s Amanda Brown for the experimental lo-fi collaboration LA Vampires Meets Zola Jesus. Souterrain Transmissions assembled tracks from Valusia and Stridulum into the full-length Stridulum II one month later, and the year concluded with tour dates supporting Fever Ray and the xx.

In 2011, alongside work with M83 and Prefuse 73, Zola Jesus delivered her third album, Conatus. Released that September and co-produced by Danilova with Brian Foote of Cloudland Canyon and Jackie-O Motherfucker, it introduced strings and acoustic instruments. Conatus, Latin for “moving forward,” received strong critical praise and reached number six on the U.S. Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and number 22 on the U.K. Independent Albums chart. Near the end of the tour, Danilova performed at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, collaborating with Foetus’ J.G. Thirlwell on arrangements for the Mivos Quartet; those string versions were documented on 2013’s Versions.

Danilova signed with Mute Records for her fourth album, Taiga, released in October 2014. Seeking fresh musical and geographic inspiration, she drew from pop figures such as Mariah Carey and Barbra Streisand while writing on Washington State’s Vashon Island. The title, Russian for “forest,” was mixed in Los Angeles with Dean Hurley; the record reached number nine on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in the U.S. and number 48 on the U.K. Independent Albums chart. Returning to Merrill in 2017, Danilova began composing songs rooted in difficult personal experiences shared with friends. Okovi, the Slavic term for “shackles,” arrived in September 2017 as her first album to incorporate guitar. Its reflections on loss and recovery included contributions from Alex DeGroot, WIFE, Pedestrian Deposit’s Shannon Kennedy, and percussionist Ted Byrnes, and it peaked at number eight on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Albums chart. The following year brought Okovi: Additions, an EP of session outtakes and remixes by Johnny Jewel, Katie Gately, Joanne Pollock, and Wolves in the Throne Room. Zola Jesus’ debut live album, Live at Roadburn 2018, captured her Netherlands performance at the Roadburn Festival and surfaced in September 2020. While preparing her next material, Danilova encountered intense writer’s block; she enlisted producer Randall Dunn and drummer/percussionist Matt Chamberlain to help shape June 2022’s Arkhon. The title, an ancient Greek word for “ruler” and a Gnostic reference to flawed divine power, shifted away from the dance-oriented textures of Taiga and Okovi toward a denser sound propelled by Chamberlain’s polyrhythms.