Today Zola Jesus announces her new album Okovi set for release Sept 8th via Sacred Bones Records, and shares the first single 'Exhumed'. Zola Jesus is set to play a London show on Nov 7 at Village Underground with more European dates to be announced soon.

“Last year, I moved back to the woods in Wisconsin where I was raised. I built a little house just steps away from where my dilapidated childhood tree fort is slowly recombining into earth. Okovi was fed by this return to roots and several very personal traumas. While writing Okovi, I endured people very close to me trying to die, and others trying desperately not to. Meanwhile, I was fighting through a haze so thick I wasn’t sure I’d find my way to the other side. Death, in all of its masks, has been encircling everyone I love, and with it the questions of legacy, worth, and will. Okovi is a Slavic word for shackles. We’re all shackled to something—to life, to death, to bodies, to minds, to illness, to people, to birthright, to duty. Each of us born with a unique debt, and we have until we die to pay it back.  Without this cost, what gives us the right to live? And moreover, what gives us the right to die? Are we really even free to choose?”

This album is a deeply personal snapshot of loss, reconciliation, and a sympathy for the chains that keep us all grounded to the unforgiving laws of nature. To bring it to life, I decided to enlist the help of Alex DeGroot, who has been the only constant in my live band and helped mix the Stridulum EP back in 2010. It will be released on Sacred Bones, the closest group of people I’ll ever have to blood-bound family. Nika Roza Danilova has been recording music as Zola Jesus for more than a decade. For the majority of that time, she’s been on Sacred Bones Records, and Okovi marks her reunion with the label.

Okovi tracklist:

1. Doma

2. Exhumed

3. Soak

4. Ash to Bone

5. Witness

6. Siphon

7. Veka

8. Wiseblood

9. NMO

10. Remains

 11. Half Life 

On May 25th Anja Kotar released her debut full-length album, Nomad, along with her online store 'Too Cool’. With electronic 80’s drums inspired by Phil Collins, Prince vocal filters, The Weeknd synths, and Lana Del Rey lyricism, Nomad stands for 21st century coming of age music.  Between working on her undergrad at Berkeley College, 13 years of training in classical piano, and being awarded Slovenia’s 2016 Best Pop Song, Anja’s preparation for this album has been quite extensive.  A concept album structured as a mixtape/playlist that is listened to during a car ride, Nomad was born upon completing a $20,000 Kickstarter project. Nomad tells her personal story of growing up in America, but can be a voice for any young person who feels lost and struggles with the pressures of growing up.

Anja says “How To Be Cool”, the debut single off the album, "poses the question that is being untangled throughout the album - the everlasting obsession with being cool. Especially for young adults, it seems to be the golden standard but no one seems to know exactly what it is. This leads to pop culture fabricating their own ideals, often setting very unrealistic or even dangerous bars.”

Anja Kotar had her first taste of the arts while studying piano, dance and acting in the blockbuster movie, Going Our Way, and its sequel while in Ljubljana, Slovenia. After moving to San Jose, California in 2012, Anja continued her studies at the Valley Christian Conservatory. It was then that she became heavily involved with theater and jazz. Anja used her time at VC Conservatory to perform in multiple shows and even start writing and directing full-length productions such as; “Godspell.” Anja also earned a Voice Certificate from Berkeley College of Music after taking online courses while she was in high school. Upon graduation, Anja attended the prestigious Broadway Artist Alliance in New York City. At 17 she then completed her widely successful Kickstarter project, which had 156 supports who pledged anywhere from $5 to $1000 in return for background footage, memorabilia and lastly, Nomad itself.

After the release of her EP Anja was invited to perform at the Slovenian Song Festival (DSZG) the longest running festival in the country that features the country’s top talent and is the most viewed show in the country. After performing her original "Čas Je Zdaj" (The Time Is Now) and "Too Cool” live, Anja was nominated by RTV for Best Performance, Best Song, and Best New Artist, walking away with 2016’s Best New Artist. She then was nominated for Best Pop Song at the 2016 American Songwriting Awards.

Currently, Anja is working to complete her Bachelor’s degree from Berkeley College of Music nearly two years early, promoting her brand new release, Nomad (produced by three–time Grammy nominated producer, Pascal Guyon), along with launching her online store, Too Cool, which will connect music and fashion.