Listen to Conatus, the new album by Zola Jesus (performing Oct. 20th at First Unitarian Church)

From NPR Music:

Conatus finds Nika Danilova, a.k.a. Zola Jesus, pushing the boundaries of her previous work to create an album filled with hauntingly beautiful songs. It also shows her taking a giant leap forward in production, with big arrangements in songs both fierce and fragile — and, for the first time, live string instruments.

As before, Danilova’s operatic vocals remain front and center. Her classically trained voice is commanding, rich and silky. Each song overflows with emotion: dark and moody, yet buoyant. As dark as they may seem, the songs have the capacity to induce comfort, even jubilation.

You can read NPR’s full write-up and listen to the album in its entirety here. Zola Jesus performs at 8 p.m. Thursday, October 20th, at First Unitarian Church; tickets to the all-ages show are $13.