Taiga (Zola Jesus album)

Taiga
Studio album by
Zola Jesus
ReleasedOctober 6, 2014
Genre
Length42:36
LabelMute
Producer
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

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]

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. ^ a b Jenn Pelly (July 15, 2014). "Zola Jesus Shares Taiga Album Art, Tracklist, Announces International Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  2. ^ a b John Walker (August 28, 2014). "Zola Jesus' 'Dangerous Days' Video Is So Overwhelming". MTV. Archived from the original on September 2, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "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.