Stridulum

Like her previous work, Zola Jesus’ new EP Stridulum takes a bit of getting used to. The haunting echoes and assertive rhythms featured in the album’s first track “Night” are carried on throughout the six-song-long extended play, creating a consistently melodramatic tone throughout the record, supplemented by the eeriness of her signature spacey synths.

But whether you’re into moody experimental music or are at all intrigued by the oil-covered subject featured on the record cover, “Night” is undoubtedly a well-crafted track and the strongest on the record. Nika Roza Danilova’s deep and authoritative voice alone is enough to allure listeners, but paired with a marching drumbeat and melting synthesized chords in a solid three minutes and 27 seconds, it becomes clear that “Night” is skillfully composed and dramatically climatic.

The rest of Stridulum follows relatively the same pattern as the first track; ultimately, if you like one song, you like them all, and vice versa. Although the album is consistent in its mobility and moves from one track to the next at a swift pace, songs like the title track seem to hit a roadblock of redundancy in the record and do not satisfy any need for variety throughout the piece of work. Nonetheless, Zola Jesus has still managed to combine her bold vocals with cinematic, yet clean and simple synthesized instrumentation, resulting in another enthralling chapter of her ongoing body of accessible alternative work.

For More,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/zolajesus

Don’t forget to catch Zola Jesus at the Garrison on September 30th!