''Conatus'' is the third
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American singer
Zola Jesus
Nika Roza Danilova (born Nicole Rose Hummel; April 11, 1989), known professionally by her stage name Zola Jesus, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her music has been noted for combining elements of electronic, industrial, ...
, released in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2011, and in the United States on October 4 by
Sacred Bones Records
Sacred Bones Records is an American independent record label founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Blanck Mass, Crystal Stilts, Marissa ...
. The album was produced by Brian "Nudge" Foote (
Jackie-O Motherfucker
Jackie-O Motherfucker is an American experimental music group that formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994.
Biography
Jackie-O Motherfucker began as a duo consisting of multi-instrumentalist Tom Greenwood and saxophonist Nester Bucket. The group is a ...
, Cloudland Canyon) and Nika Roza Danilova herself.
Background
Several critics noticed that the new album sounds different from Zola Jesus' earlier works. "I just wanted to try out new ways to produce and different ways to write. And with this new record it's a lot more stripped down and there are way more acoustic elements as opposed to no acoustic elements.
..I just wanted more breathing room, so people could insert their own experiences into the song, their own feelings into the song, as opposed to me forcing it on them with the densest sound possible", Danilova explained. Speaking to Prefix Magazine after her performance at the
Pitchfork Music Festival
The Pitchfork Music Festival is an annual summer music festival organized by ''Pitchfork Media'' and held in Union Park in Chicago, Illinois. Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris at Grande halle de la Villette. The fe ...
, she said she wanted the album to be a step forward. "
doing that, there was so, so much trial and error and so much quitting music at the end of the day", she admitted. Danilova said that the title of the album (meaning "
moving forward" in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
) appeared before the work on it began. "I had it in mind beforehand because I knew that's what I was going through even before I sat down to work on the record, I was already going through that emotional process of trying to push myself", she said.
Answering the question about how and why the new album was different from her previous records, Danilova said:
Brian Foote, Danilova's friend, has been bought in when she realized she had too much of ideas to sort them out. "Some of them weren't really a good fit, as I found out during the process, and by the end I kind of realised that I needed someone to help me along the way. So, it made sense to ask Brian as he's a great friend of mine that also lives in Los Angeles and he has a great studio with lots of resources. He helped oversee the production of the record and made sure that everything was done on time and nothing was missed out during recording and it worked out just perfect", she said. It was easy for her to work with Foote who, understanding that she was a "control freak", tried to "step away a lot". Yet, he had a lot of "great suggestions about how to change little things to make them more effective", according to Danilova, and also let her use his "amazing synth collection" which helped the songs grow.
For the first time ever Danilova has brought in session musicians: Nick Johnson (drums, who is also a member of her live band), Sean McCann (
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
,
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
) and Ryan York (
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
,
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
). "I can't play violin or cello or stand-up bass, or drums. I can play keyboards, kind of. So all the keyboard parts I wrote and played, and then I would send the string parts that I had wrote on the keyboard to the string players and they would just mimic that. Same with the drums. I try to do as much as possible, still, but I wish I could play drums", she explained.
Style
Some critics mentioned Danilova's initial intention "to make a big sounding pop album", and the way she's "found that the music she was creating was expressing itself as something more introspective", as the work progressed. "Despite stepping away from the notion of making a pop album, 'In Your Nature' hints at where ''Conatus'' might have headed had Danilova's tendency to write songs that inhabit the darker end of the spectrum not come to the fore", according to ''
musicOMH
MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...
''.
''
Resident Advisor
''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. It was established in 2001. ''RA''s editorial team provides news, musi ...
'' cited "Seekir" and "In Your Nature" as "prime examples of how she has quickly and impressively matured from bedroom industrial experimentalist to perverse yet universal synth-popper",
while Anupa Mistry of Canadian magazine ''
Now
Now most commonly refers
to the present time.
Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to:
Organizations
* Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization
* National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization
* Now ...
'' opined that on ''Conatus'', Zola Jesus "reveals herself as an
avant-gardist
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or 'vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, Wikt:radical#Adjective, radical, or unorthodox with respect to The arts, art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Av ...
with pop ambition."
The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' also found "below the bleak, seasick surfaces" a "deeply romantic streak that complicates the idea of who or what Zola Jesus is", noting that "
's this disarming sensuality that allowed Danilova to fit in alongside
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
and
Mike Patton
Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...
at a recent
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...
tribute at the Hollywood Bowl."
Evan Hanlon of ''Dusted Magazine'' opined that "Seekir" "is the closest Zola Jesus gets to a club hit" and even draws parallels with
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
: "There is the singular, artistic persona that represents an entire project of identity. The moody drama that stems from this persona infused into each song. The challenge to popular music orthodoxy from within the system. And above all, the placement of a powerful operatic voice at the focal point, and in Nika Roza Danilova's case, the classical training that goes along with it."
''Now'' reviewer Anupa Mistry agreed, stating: "Like her prior work, the songs are thematically dark and diffuse, but the dancey impulses on 'Vessel' and 'Seekir' signal headier paths ahead. Could Zola Jesus be the inverse Lady Gaga?"
Reef Younis, writing for ''
Clash'', remarked that "
epping out of the shadows suits her after all."
Still,
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's Heather Phares saw a lot of complexity on the album that "extends even to
he album's
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
relatively accessible moments, which inch closer to pop without actually delivering it". She also wrote that over the course of the album, Danilova "nods to
goth
A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were:
*Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history
*Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history
Goth or Goths may also refer to:
* Goth (surname) ...
,
synth pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
,
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
, and abstract
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
without pledging allegiance to any one style; she's forging her own path", presenting "fractured beats and electronics
..alongside strings and other organic elements in a pristine studio setting."
Ben Hewitt of ''
The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quiet ...
'' mentioned how prior to the album's release Zola Jesus "revealed that she'd immersed herself so deeply in its (typically cheery) themes of alienation and isolation that she became 'completely lost'", adding that "while the misery of ''Stridulum II'' was often delivered with the same subtlety as a
Hammer Horror
Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...
movie, ''Conatus'' is far more ambient and ethereal—and doubly eerie as a result." According to ''
Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
''s Frank Mojica, "Rather than radically reinventing the sound from Danilova's second full-length, 2010's ''
Stridulum II
''Stridulum II'' is the second full-length studio album release (although it is considered her first in the UK) by the American singer-songwriter Zola Jesus, released by the German label Souterrain Transmissions on August 23, 2010. The album comb ...
'', ''Conatus'' comes across as a more fully realized Zola Jesus production. This album is elevating as well as moody, as it runs through various shades of both electronic and organic darkness. Although familiar by now, the Zola Jesus style has been refined enough so that it remains fresh and leaves the listener awaiting the next otherworldly journey."
"Though some may miss the rough and raw approach of her last two EPs, it's refreshing and exciting to hear music that relies on bone-hard essence rather than gauzy trimmings to create an aura of mystery. There's a newfound sense of purpose, as if, having tested her abilities, Danilova now understands exactly what she's doing", according to ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
''.
Among other artists ''Conatus'' reviewers compared Zola Jesus to are
Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
,
New Order,
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946)
is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''.
Called the "punk poe ...
,
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist.
After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...
,
Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...
,
Elizabeth Fraser
Elizabeth Davidson Fraser (born 29 August 1963), is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician. Hailing from Grangemouth, Scotland, she is best known as the vocalist for the pioneering dream pop band Cocteau Twins who achieved international ...
,
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an Australian music duo first established in Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. They relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane des ...
and
Siouxsie Sioux
Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She was the lead singer of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1976–1996). They released 11 ...
.
In a broader sense, PopMatters' Matt James noticed similarities with the work of
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
,
Munch,
Bresson,
Francesca Woodman
Francesca Stern Woodman (April 3, 1958 – January 19, 1981) was an American photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring either herself or female models.
Many of her photographs show women, naked or clothed, blurred (due to ...
and
Gorecki.
Vocal delivery
As with all of her previous releases, Zola Jesus's vocals and delivery in ''Conatus'' have been unanimously praised by critics. Frank Mojica of Consequence of Sound argued that "
me singers are blessed with the rare sort of voice that's unmistakably theirs, and Nika Roza Danilova is one such artist. Under her stage name Zola Jesus, the opera-trained Danilova has paired vocals that are akin to a siren's call with neo-gothic synths that carry the listener to an often sinister land of mystery."
Heather Phares opined that "Danilova's throatily majestic voice" is "as unmistakable as ever. Her instrument is undeniably powerful, and more controlled here than it was before", but still demonstrates "remarkable rawness and vulnerability".
Sam Shepherd wrote that "
r voice is so unique and haunting that it is instantly recognisable."
Brian Howe of ''Pitchfork'' commented, "Whatever biosphere you choose to project on it
.. Danilova's voice remains fixed on a faraway horizon, receding as you approach. When she bursts into the foreground on 'Avalanche' and stays there for the remainder of the album, the impression of impassable distance lingers. This is partly because of the authority of Danilova's voice, and partly because the music gives nothing away, thrumming along with power that shades into ambivalence toward the shifting emotional register of the singing. The results are dramatic but never melodramatic, as Danilova maps the dimensions of her self-imprisonment with resolve."
Critical reception
Upon its release, ''Conatus'' received positive reviews from most music critics. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
score of 79, based on 35 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
''
Q'' magazine praised it as "a mind-blowing and powerfully emotional album", rating it 4/5. Sam Shepherd of ''
musicOMH
MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...
'' wrote, "More bare structurally, musically and emotionally than its predecessor, yet by the same token, fuller and more alive,
'Conatus''is an amazing work that showcases a phenomenal talent and a unique voice."
Mikael Wood of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' gave ''Conatus'' a 3.5/4 rating, calling it a "thoroughly bewitching album",
while Stephane Girard of ''
Resident Advisor
''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. It was established in 2001. ''RA''s editorial team provides news, musi ...
'' dubbed it "Zola Jesus' most gratifying offering so far",
and ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
''s Jason Heller agreed, stating that on ''Conatus'', "she's made another bold step toward fully realizing her cyborg-like, post-goth opera."
''Pitchfork''s Brian Howe viewed the album as a huge step forward as well, noting that "
st traces of obscuring murk have burned away, so that every pock and ridge in the rugged, elemental music stands out distinctly.
..Her bouts of nihilism feel nervier and more bracing in the unforgiving light of sonic clarity. The closer she gets, the more enigmatic she's revealed to be."
''
Filter
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
'' reviewer Laura Studarus referred to the album as a "textured collection of 11 tunes—all united with an innate sense of 'epicness.' Danilova's more-is-more mentality may be off-putting to some listeners (instrumental embellishments circle her swooping voice like auditory eyeliner), but it's executed with the utmost care."
Heather Phares of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
expressed that "
ile ''Conatus'' isn't as direct as ''Stridulum'', it's still some of her most satisfying work. This is music made in and for the darkest hours, and a striking portrait of the times when crisis and opportunity meet."
Matt James of ''
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' described the album as "enchanting, exhausting, cathartic, borderline traumatic, and curiously beautiful to its dying breath", adding that "''Conatus'' is an album rich with highlights. It's melodrama so operatic, everything's built to sound like the last song you'll ever hear."
Jen Long of
BBC Music
BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network.
Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...
felt that the album is "trademark Zola Jesus" which hasn't "taken any great strides away from the formula that's served its master so well to date" and, while the production has certainly taken a step up, the lyrical content of songs prove to be less memorable than the delivery. Long concluded: "This is a strong record, there's no doubting that—but it still feels like the best is yet to come from Danilova, which some may consider a disappointment now that she's three albums to the good." Evan Hanlon of ''Dusted Magazine'' thought that "
e lyrical content is largely superfluous, and despite the obvious upgrade in production and a newfound embrace of the spotlight, the program is very much the same."
Praising "Vessel" and "Seekir" as the album's two most innovative tracks, Emily Mackay of ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' concluded: "Mostly, though, ''Conatus'' gives you a more polished version of exactly what you'd want from a Zola Jesus album".
''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
''s
Kitty Empire
Kitty Empire is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''.
Early life
Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britai ...
found the album "very accomplished, but lacking in variety".
''
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
'' placed the album at number 15 on its list of the "Top 50 albums of 2011".
Track listing
Personnel
* Nika Roza Danilova – vocals,
producer
* Josh Bonati –
mastering
* Brandie Carlos – make-up
* Angel Ceballos – photography
* Brian Foote – producer,
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
,
mixing
* Nick Johnson – drums
* Sean McCann –
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
, violin
* Davey Riley – additional engineer
* Ryan York –
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
,
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2011 albums
Zola Jesus albums
Sacred Bones Records albums