As soon as ‘Taiga’ starts and Zola Jesus’ soaring vocals enter the track, it’s easy to see where the main draw card to the album lies. Zola, aka Nika Rosa Danilova, is well aware of this as each track in the album takes her vocals to new highs, and lows, and shows just how strong they are.
‘Dangerous Days’ is easily a highlight on the album, again with flawless vocals, Zola sings over a catchy synthetic beat that could almost earn its place on the dance floor. ‘Hunger’ is another track that tiptoes on the line of becoming a king pin in the dance music scene, but sadly just misses out. The track sounds forced, and Nika’s usual awe inspiring vocals sound rushed and jar against the rest of the album.
Luckily this is a momentary lapse for the singer and ‘Go’ smooths over any wrongdoings with her powerful, yet angelic vocals. ‘Ego’ takes the album in the same direction with not much else in the track aside from Nika’s vocals, which could only ever be a good thing.
While the album is a bit darker than your usual pop album, there are also hints at R&B, giving the album a unique mix to make it stand out from other pop releases of today. These darker tones are best heard in ‘Dust’ and ‘Go’, and due to their uniqueness they stick in your mind.
The reason it’s so easy to fall in love or pick on Nika’s vocals is that throughout the whole album her vocals are stripped back, raw and holding each and every song. It’s a brave thing to do given that she’s still relatively new to the game. ‘It’s Not Over’ leaves you excited for Zola Jesus’ next release. Finishing on a high the song echoes “It’s not over tonight” and we’re sure it isn’t.
By Amanda Sherring