Zola Jesus – Webster Hall, New York, NY 10/19/14 (SHOW REVIEW)

The trajectory of Nika Danilova’s Zola Jesus live shows has directly paralleled the trajectory of her recorded output: in just five years, she’s gone from mostly solo performances of lo-fi, Gothy drones to carefully orchestrated productions in which dark tinges barely disguise slickly-produced pop leanings. This evolution was in full effect Sunday night in Manhattan’s Webster Hall, where Danilova, wrapped in a bat-like outfit with stark lighting casting angular, menacing shadows, performed in support of her recently-released album Taiga, backed by a drummer, a synth player, and a brass section, on a stage decorated by glowing geometric icebergs evoking the wild, frozen terrain of the album’s title.

The tight, focused set consisted of the entire new album in order, with two older songs (“Clay Bodies,” “Sea Talk”) interjected half-way through and an encore likewise consisting of two older songs (“Vessel,” “Night”). The album is strong but uneven, in places soaring and epic and in places too hesitant for its ambitions: the live show raises the album’s weaker tracks up to par and meshes them effectively with the back catalogue, producing an effectively-structured and sonically unified performance. The thundering brass served the older songs well, giving them a vibrant presence and blending them smoothly into the sound of the newer material, which was brought vividly to life not only by the effective arrangements but first and foremost by Danilova’s ferocious stage presence.

Her albums have grown increasingly conceptual and her performances increasingly elaborate and arty, but make no mistake: the heart of every Zola Jesus performance is neither costume nor concept but Danilova and Danilova’s voice, which howls, soars, and yelps with impassioned abandon. That voice was wonderfully displayed on the a cappella openings to “Taiga” and “Nail”; the latter, especially, was a showstopping moment of brute talent. And the new album has added a new tone to Danilova’s vocal palette with the soul-infused “Dust,” which sounded better live than it does on the recording, less tentative and more clearly-envisioned. The shift from unkempt waif to slick high-end fashion has done nothing to dull or temper the relentless energy with which Danilova stalks the stage, stomping and whipping her hair during the roaring second half of “Taiga,” pacing back and forth continuously, and, in a signature move, disappearing into the audience during “Hollow,” the second-to-last song of the main set. On Taiga, “Hollow” and “It’s Not Over” end the album with a terrific one-two punch; live, this climax closes out the main set with epic intensity. And while “Night” is a slightly predictable song with which to end the show, “Vessel” remains one of the Zola Jesus’ strongest tracks and an excellent encore number.

There was nothing improvisational or unplanned about this appearance: it was a lean show, carefully planned, with a practiced, deliberate pacing. In the Goth-industrial pantheon with which Zola Jesus is often associated, it was less ‘80s Swans than ‘90s NIN, theatrical, dramatic, and rehearsed. Sponsored by Nylon and fresh off Danilova’s recent gig at Prabal Gurung’s New York Fashion Week party, that scripted polish seemed a bit at odds with the show’s audience, which despite a smattering of stylites and urban gays drawn to Danilova’s growing alterna-diva factor still consisted in large part of black-clad stalwarts, most of whom probably remember buying Urban Decay nail polish in high school. The headliner also seemed at odds with the second opening act, Suicide’s Martin Rev, whose resolutely lo-fi predictability seems, at this point in musical history, more shtick than show; it felt like Rev was mostly there for the cred factor, which is unfortunate, because Danilova’s performance two years ago at the Guggenheim Museum makes clear that she needs neither borrowed cred nor, to be honest, an opening act.

This is a transitional moment for Zola Jesus. Taiga continues to develop the pop-leaning trajectory strongly hinted at by the single “Fall Back” from last year’s Versions, which featured tracks from the ZJ back catalogue set to string quartet arrangements. But it’s an ambitious, cerebral notion of pop music: the new direction has cost Danilova some of her existing fan base but not yet garnered adequate mainstream attention. That left Webster Hall at less-than-maximum capacity, giving this top-notch live show less of an audience than it deserved. But the video cameras drifting through the photographer’s pit and the audience indicate adequate recording, which is good: whether Danilova’s future is in saccharine pop or avant-garde experimentalism, Sunday’s show will stand as a worthy document of a restless and determined artist whose career promises any number of future reinventions and developments. Zola Jesus has been one to watch for a while now, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

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