The Spoils (Zola Jesus album)
Encyclopedia
The Spoils is a debut full-length studio album by Nika Roza Danilova, better known as Zola Jesus
, released in July 2010 on Sacred Bones Records
. To the LP version's original 10 tracks the CD (15 tracks) adds five songs: two from "Soeur Sewer" and three from the "Poor Sons" 7-inch singles.
interview.
Some argued that the inclusion of the two earlier singles' material illustrated the development of the Zola Jesus sound. "The earlier singles are dirtier, sexier, more intense... Her voice, really, is the soul and core of the music," and on The Spoils she used "more reverb and single vocal tracks. I've never observed the loss of warmth and charm when switching to digital recording from analogue more apparently than here," remarked a Brainwashed reviewer. "I love weird power electronics and industrial music, but then I also really love intensely powerful melodic songs. Something like a Ronettes song hits you in such a different way than noise stuff. For me, the ideal is bringing both the experimental and the pop music in," Zola Jesus commented, noting that percussion played an important role in the album's structure too. "I will always have intense beats and have an epic sound structure," the singer said, speaking toLA Record.
, The Spoils "unfurled an epic sort of gloom-pop deliberately tarnished with lo-fidelity scuzz, but songs like "Clay Bodies" rose above the rubble thanks to Nika's huge delivery, full-hearted and powerful in a way that that melds a familiar diva dynamic to an abrasiveness practiced by scream queens like Diamanda Galas
and Lydia Lunch
. The Spoils (quoting The Fact magazine) "saw her master a unique vocabulary of drones, cavernous acoustics and rich, anachronistic vocal timbres buried within a dense layer of lo-fi grain that suggested that Zola Jesus had very much found her voice."Zola Jesus is the alter ego of 21 year old Nika Roza Danilova, a former opera student whose gothic strain of epic cold wave synth pop is attracting a lot of attention. A Boomkat reviewer pointed to "doom ridden, barely decipherable lyrics and emaciated drum machines somewhere between Siouxsie Sioux
and Cold Cave
" as the album's sound main feature. "The effect is a windswept and romantic scene of pop emotions wrung with blood curdling howls, bristling with synth electrics and booming with Robin Guthrie
-esque drums. If you're susceptible to the likes of Cold Cave, PJ Harvey
and classic 4AD
moods, this will put you in your place," the writer concluded.
According to Pitchfork, as compared to earlier singles and EPs (which were "promising, with an immediately identifiable aesthetic" but "pulled in a few different directions,
between structure and atmosphere, or vulnerable longing and stark, theatrical wailing") The Spoils is "a potent mix of layered and otherworldly vocals, muddy electronics, and storefront-church keyboards", full of tension, dynamics and raw emotion. "Spoils is compelling throughout, but the peak comes much later in its runtime, with 'Smirenye' and especially 'Clay Bodies', argues the reviewer.
Zola jesus
Zola Jesus is the stage name of Russian American singer/songwriter Nika Roza Danilova . Having released three EPs and two full-length albums, combining industrial, classical, electronic, goth and experimental rock influences, she received generally good reviews and was regarded as one of the names...
, released in July 2010 on Sacred Bones Records
Sacred Bones Records
Sacred Bones Records is an independent record label founded in 2007, based in Brooklyn, NY. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, Moon Duo, The Men, Cult of Youth and Blank Dogs...
. To the LP version's original 10 tracks the CD (15 tracks) adds five songs: two from "Soeur Sewer" and three from the "Poor Sons" 7-inch singles.
History
The album, according to the sleeve note was "recorded in the womb of a Wisconsin winter, 2008/2009". Nika Rosa made it in her apartment and lo-fi standard of the sound had been criticized even by her parents. "They’re like ...why is the quality so bad? You need to get into a real studio!" she said in a PitchforkPitchfork
A pitchfork is an agricultural tool with a long handle and long, thin, widely separated pointed tines used to lift and pitch loose material, such as hay, leaves, grapes, dung or other agricultural materials. Pitchforks typically have two or three tines...
interview.
Sound and structure
The album's sound had a lot to do with the environment, according to its author:Some argued that the inclusion of the two earlier singles' material illustrated the development of the Zola Jesus sound. "The earlier singles are dirtier, sexier, more intense... Her voice, really, is the soul and core of the music," and on The Spoils she used "more reverb and single vocal tracks. I've never observed the loss of warmth and charm when switching to digital recording from analogue more apparently than here," remarked a Brainwashed reviewer. "I love weird power electronics and industrial music, but then I also really love intensely powerful melodic songs. Something like a Ronettes song hits you in such a different way than noise stuff. For me, the ideal is bringing both the experimental and the pop music in," Zola Jesus commented, noting that percussion played an important role in the album's structure too. "I will always have intense beats and have an epic sound structure," the singer said, speaking toLA Record.
Reception
According to The QuietusThe Quietus
The Quietus is a British online rock music and pop culture magazine, focusing on arts news, reviews, and features. The site is an editorially independent publication led by John Doran and a group of freelance journalists and critics, some of whom have worked for other media outlets...
, The Spoils "unfurled an epic sort of gloom-pop deliberately tarnished with lo-fidelity scuzz, but songs like "Clay Bodies" rose above the rubble thanks to Nika's huge delivery, full-hearted and powerful in a way that that melds a familiar diva dynamic to an abrasiveness practiced by scream queens like Diamanda Galas
Diamanda Galás
Diamanda Galás is an American avant-garde composer, vocalist, pianist, organist, performance artist and painter.Galás has been described as "capable of the most unnerving vocal terror", with her three and a half octave vocal range. She often screams, hisses and growls...
and Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
. The Spoils (quoting The Fact magazine) "saw her master a unique vocabulary of drones, cavernous acoustics and rich, anachronistic vocal timbres buried within a dense layer of lo-fi grain that suggested that Zola Jesus had very much found her voice."Zola Jesus is the alter ego of 21 year old Nika Roza Danilova, a former opera student whose gothic strain of epic cold wave synth pop is attracting a lot of attention. A Boomkat reviewer pointed to "doom ridden, barely decipherable lyrics and emaciated drum machines somewhere between Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux
Siouxsie Sioux is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees and of its splinter group The Creatures . The Banshees produced eleven studio albums and a string of hit singles including "Hong Kong Garden",...
and Cold Cave
Cold Cave
Cold Cave is the experimental musical project of Wesley Eisold based in New York City and originating in Philadelphia and is described as "a collage of darkwave, noise, and synth pop"...
" as the album's sound main feature. "The effect is a windswept and romantic scene of pop emotions wrung with blood curdling howls, bristling with synth electrics and booming with Robin Guthrie
Robin Guthrie
Robin Guthrie is a musician best known as co-founder of the Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has played guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and other musical instruments, in addition to programming, sampling and sound processing...
-esque drums. If you're susceptible to the likes of Cold Cave, PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
and classic 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
moods, this will put you in your place," the writer concluded.
According to Pitchfork, as compared to earlier singles and EPs (which were "promising, with an immediately identifiable aesthetic" but "pulled in a few different directions,
between structure and atmosphere, or vulnerable longing and stark, theatrical wailing") The Spoils is "a potent mix of layered and otherworldly vocals, muddy electronics, and storefront-church keyboards", full of tension, dynamics and raw emotion. "Spoils is compelling throughout, but the peak comes much later in its runtime, with 'Smirenye' and especially 'Clay Bodies', argues the reviewer.