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Apr 12, 2018 Web Exclusive By Michael Watkins

In delivering one of 2017’s most impressive and experimental releases, Zola Jesus came good on a promise of reliability that she had made nearly a decade ago. Her early releases transcended category and genre, providing a shining light for someone who wanted something inexcusably and unashamedly different. Her 2014 release Taiga threatened to throw all of that into disrepute, seeing her swap out her individualism for an unnerving and unnecessary shot at mainstream success.

Last year’s Okovi saw her return to Sacred Bones, the record label that had originally housed her obvious talents and, on a release that was so expertly well-judged, she once again felt relevant and inspiring. For listeners who enjoyed Okovi now comes the chance to hear some tracks left off the final album as well as remixes of some songs that were released on the main project.

“Bound,” an original new track, sees her back on fine form and shows that, given the right tools and environment to create in, she really is a tour de force of ambition and experimentation. On the last four tracks of the eight track release artists such as Jonny Jewel (Chromatics) and Joanne Pollock are brought in to breath some new life into some already wonderful works—Pollock’s remix of Okovi highlight “Soak” proving particularly worthwhile. Overall, this is a companion piece of surprising merit that offers more depth to a characterful and potentially career-defining release. (www.zolajesus.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10