Merrill, WI

Nika Roza Danilova has summoned electronic goth incantations as Zola Jesus since 2006. She’s endlessly tinkered with her sound as a sonic auteur, and explored inner workings of her soul through dalliances with art pop, classical, and brutally industrial cold wave.

Naming herself after French writer Émile Zola, Zola Jesus released her debut record The Spoils through Sacred Bones Records in 2009. Noted as being "[self] recorded in the womb of a Wisconsin winter" in the sleeve notes, the album’s potent mix of infectious gloom pop and lo-fi scuzz drew comparisons to Siouxie Soux and no wave queen (and Sled Island alumni) Lydia Lunch. She followed this up with Stridulum II in 2010, a collection of prior EP tracks exploring a minimalist darkwave sound with Danilova’s classically trained voice front-and-centre. She also toured with The xx and Fever Ray, and has made several magical SXSW appearances.  

Her first release with Mute Records came in 2014 with Taiga, a hypnagogic pop venture which garnered praise from NME and Exclaim!. She jumped back over to Sacred Bones for 2017’s Okovi, a release Pitchfork described as “close personal experiences rendered into urgent goth-pop songs.” For her sixth record, Zola Jesus recruited producer Randall Dunn – who’s worked with Björk, Cloud Nothings, Sunn O))), and many more – and percussionist Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, David Bowie, Bob Dylan) for Arkhon, a ten-song soundscape of piano ballads, orchestral strings, and socially conscious lyrics.   

If you missed her hypnotic set at Central United Church in 2011, consider it fate that Zola Jesus is coming back to Sled Island and to the beloved church, this time with a solo piano performance. Having explored the depths of her songwriter soul, she’s ready to meet Calgary audiences again, more powerful than ever. Check her sparsely beautiful release Alive in Cappadocia for a taste of her awe-inspiring live performance.