Zola Jesus has shared new cut 'Exhumed', the first sign of upcoming album 'Okovi'.
The American artist recently moved back to the backwoods of Wisconsin, close to where she grew up.
New album 'Okovi' is fed by this return, but it also displays glimpses of grief, hope, and – ultimately – renewal.
She explains: "While writing 'Okovi', I endured people very close to me trying to die, and others trying desperately not to. Meanwhile, I was fighting through a haze so thick I wasn’t sure I’d find my way to the other side. Death, in all of its masks, has been encircling everyone I love, and with it the questions of legacy, worth, and will."
"'Okovi' is a Slavic word for shackles. We’re all shackled to something—to life, to death, to bodies, to minds, to illness, to people, to birthright, to duty. Each of us born with a unique debt, and we have until we die to pay it back. Without this cost, what gives us the right to live? And moreover, what gives us the right to die? Are we really even free to choose?"
Zola Jesus continues: "This album is a deeply personal snapshot of loss, reconciliation, and a sympathy for the chains that keep us all grounded to the unforgiving laws of nature. To bring it to life, I decided to enlist the help of Alex DeGroot, who has been the only constant in my live band and helped mix the 'Stridulum' EP back in 2010. It will be released on Sacred Bones, the closest group of people I’ll ever have to blood-bound family."
New cut 'Exhumed' is online now – startling, gothic electronics, there's an extraordinary sense of meditation at play.
Tune in now.
Zola Jesus' new album 'Okovi' is due to be released on September 8th. Catch her live at London's Village Underground on November 11th.
Photo Credit: Tim Saccenti
