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Album Review: Zola Jesus - Okovi

Mac McNaughton
StarStarStarStar

"... Far from getting mawkishly nostalgic, [Danilova's] sixth long-player as Zola Jesus sombrely contemplates life and loss."

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One might expect moving back to the Wisconsin woods to build a house just steps from where she played as a nipper may have put Nika Danilova in reflective mode.

Well, yes, but far from getting mawkishly nostalgic, her sixth long-player as Zola Jesus sombrely contemplates life and loss. The aching, Bjork-ish strings on the traumatic Witness beg a loved one for a "second chance to pull you from the wreckage of your mind" and Siphon's sharpening-tools-as-percussion is terrifying. Lightness comes via Remains and Veka's club-electric pulse but by Half Life's end, you might need a comforting hug.