Zola Jesus has announced her sixth full-length album, Arkhon. The follow-up to 2017’s Okovi is slated for release on May 20 via Sacred Bones. Lead single ‘Lost’, which samples a Slovenian folk choir, is out today alongside a music video directed by Mu Tunç and shot on location in the Cappadocia area of Turkey. Check it out below, and scroll down for the LP’s cover artwork and tracklist.
Talking about the track, Nika Roza Danilova said in a press release: “It’s true. Everyone I know is lost. Lost hope, lost future, lost present, lost planet. There is a collective disillusionment of our burning potential. As we stray further from nature, we drift from ourselves. ‘Lost’ is a sigil to re-discover our coordinates and claim a new path.”
Of the video, she added: “I wanted to shoot the video in a place that carried a lot of energy, with someone that I felt understood the spiritual backbone of the song. It was a surprisingly natural process to make this video with Mu Tunc in Turkey. I put my faith in him and in Cappadocia, a labyrinthine city built within 60 million-year-old caves. Throughout human history these caves have served as a citadel for so many different groups of people who went there to get lost. It is a testament to the resilience of humanity, and the durability of our earth.”
Tunç commented: “The story of ‘Lost’ is a visual litany of devotion. Reflects the exodus of the true self through the mystical environments of Cappadocia. Zola Jesus is for me like an outcast philosopher of today’s confused society.’’
On Arkohn, Danilova collaborated with producer Randall Dunn and percussionist Matt Chamberlain. “When I look back at my work, I see there’s a theme where I fixate on my fear of the unknown,” she said. “That really came into fruition for this record, because I had to let go of so much control. I had to surrender to whatever the outcome would be. That used to be really hard for me, and now I had no other choice.”
The title of the album means “power” or “ruler” in Ancient Greek, and is also relevant in Gnosticism.”Arkons are a Gnostic idea of power wielded through a flawed god,” Danilova explained. “They taint and tarnish humanity, keeping them corrupted instead of letting them find their harmonious selves. I do feel like we are living in an arkhonic time; these negative influences are weighing extremely heavy on all of us. We’re in a time of arkhons. There’s power in naming that.”
Arkhon Cover Artwork:
Arkhon Tracklist:
1. Lost
2. The Fall
3. Undertow
4. Into The Wild
5. Dead and Gone
6. Sewn
7. Desire
8. Fault
9. Efemra
10. Do That Anymore
