Nika Danilova is an American singer known by her stage name Zola Jesus. Born in Arizona and raised in Wisconsin, her work has taken on an old-world feel, informed by the Eastern European ancestry of her parents as well as musicians in the gothic realm like Diamanda Galas, Throbbing Gristle and Swans. Adding industrial and electronic elements to the mix Zola Jesus found her sound, one that would have been welcomed among the 4AD artists whose traditions she continues.
Her earliest offerings were singles released in 2008, “Poor Sons” and “Soeur Sewer,” with her full-length debut, The Spoils, coming two years later. Several EPs and albums have followed, most recently Okovi, which Pitchfork touts as “urgent goth-pop songs as emotional as they are necessary.” and the Guardian calls “a perfect hybrid.”
Wiseblood