One of my new favourite artists, Zola Jesus, is back with her second album, Conatus, in September.
I only discovered Zola Jesus, aka Nika Roza Danilova, at the beginning of the year, but the atmospheric sound of her debut “Stridulum II” really stayed with me. It’s a haunting record and you should definitely check it out on Spotify if you haven’t heard it yet.
The album artwork for Conatus is really beautiful and quite a contrast to Stridulum II.
The cover of Conatus
The dress she is wearing on the cover is by a designer called Onyenauchea Nwabuzor, a young avant garde designer. The two have worked together before, when Onyenauchea designed a dress for one of her music videos and also designed a dress which Nika wore at the Pitchfork Music Festival this year.
I love these kind of statement dresses on stage and they can really add to the performance. Plus Nika is only 4”11, which is tinier than me! So there’s no way you can miss her on stage in a dress like this! I absolutely love this gothic look, and it’s making me want to find a metallic dress to match it. Although perhaps not so dramatic!
I’m looking forward to seeing what else she and Onyenauchea come up with and what else she wears on stage.
If you want an idea of what Conatus will sound like, then you can listen to the first single “Vessel” here.
Conatus will be released on September 26th on Souterrain Transmissions. Zola Jesus will also be playing a special gig at the Toynbee Studio in London on the very same day to coincide with the release. You can get tickets here.
What do you think of her style and sound?
Bhavna
Images courtesy of Work it Media.
I know Onyenauchea Nwabuzor has made costumes for Zola Jesus before, but I don’t know who made these two. It wasn’t her, though. Wonder who really did them?