Taiga (Zola Jesus album)

Taiga is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Zola Jesus. It was released on October 6, 2014 in the UK and EU and on October 7, 2014 in the US through Mute.[1] The album was produced by Nika Roza Danilova and co-produced by Dean Hurley.[1] It marks the first Zola Jesus record to be released through Mute Records. The album title Taiga is the Russian word for boreal forests. A music video was released for the album's first single "Dangerous Days".[2] The music video was directed by Timothy Saccenti and filmed in Hoh Rainforest, Washington.[2]

Taiga
Studio album by
Zola Jesus
ReleasedOctober 6, 2014
Genre
Length42:36
LabelMute
ProducerNika Roza Danilova, Dean Hurley
Zola Jesus chronology
Versions
(2013)		 Taiga
(2014)		 Okovi
(2017)
Singles from Taiga
  1. "Dangerous Days"
    Released: June 23, 2014
  2. "Go (Blank Sea)"
    Released: September 17, 2014
  3. "Hunger"
    Released: February 9, 2015
  4. "Nail"
    Released: September 18, 2015

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic66/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Consequence of SoundC+[5]
Exclaim!7/10[6]
MusicOMH[7]
NME7/10[8]
Pitchfork5.9/10[9]
PopMatters6/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]

Upon its release, Taiga received generally positive reviews from music critics. The review aggregator website Metacritic assigns a "Metascore" to each album, which is based on the ratings and reviews of selected mainstream independent publications, and the release has a score of a 66 based on 21 selected critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nika Roza Danilova

No.TitleLength
1."Taiga"2:55
2."Dangerous Days"4:29
3."Dust"3:32
4."Hunger"4:32
5."Go (Blank Sea)"4:05
6."Ego"2:49
7."Lawless"5:15
8."Nail"3:05
9."Long Way Down"3:58
10."Hollow"3:50
11."It’s Not Over"4:05
Total length:42:36

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Zola Jesus

  • Nika Roza Danilova – vocals, synthesizer, programming, production, arrangement

Additional musicians

  • Joe Exley – horn arrangement, tuba
  • Kyra Sims – French horn
  • Gabe Martin – flugelhorn, trumpet
  • Garth Flowers – trumpet
  • Andris Mattson – trumpet
  • Erik Hughes – trombone
  • Matt Melore – trombone
  • James Rogers – trombone
  • Drake Smith – trombone
  • Kim Free – violin
  • Gillian Rivers – violin
  • Yuiko Kamakari – viola
  • Justin Kantor – cello

Technical personnel

  • Dean Hurley – production, engineering, mixing
  • Chris Coady – additional production
  • Brian Rosemeyer – additional engineering
  • David Tolomei – additional engineering
  • Blake Mares – mixing assistance
  • Brian Lucey – mastering
  • Caleb Braaten – art direction, design
  • David Correll – art direction, design
  • Julia Comita – cover, insert photography
  • Jeff Elstone – back cover photography

Charts
Chart Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[12] 48
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[13] 9
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14] 40

References
  1. Jenn Pelly (July 15, 2014). "Zola Jesus Shares Taiga Album Art, Tracklist, Announces International Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  2. John Walker (August 28, 2014). "Zola Jesus' 'Dangerous Days' Video Is So Overwhelming". MTV. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  3. "Taiga - Zola Jesus". Metacritic. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  4. Phares, Heather. "Taiga - Zola Jesus". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  5. Geffen, Sasha (October 7, 2014). "Zola Jesus – Taiga". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  6. Sylvester, Daniel. "Taiga - Zola Jesus". Exclaim!. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  7. Hogwood, Ben (6 October 2014). "Taiga - Zola Jesus". MusicOMH. OMH. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  8. Cooper, Leonie (3 October 2014). "Zola Jesus: Taiga". NME. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  9. St. Asaph, Katherine. "Zola Jesus: Taiga". Pitchfork. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  10. Paul, John. "Zola Jesus: Taiga". PopMatters. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  11. Weiner, Sophie (7 October 2014). "Goth queen goes pop, with anonymous-sounding results". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  12. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50: 12 October 2014 - 18 October 2014". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  13. "Zola Jesus: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  14. "Zola Jesus: Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.