SEVEN NOISES

Zola Jesus has been keeping herself busy for the last couple of years. After the release of two LPs, an EP and a couple of singles, touring with the help of her cousin Dead Luke and forming part of Former Ghosts (where Xiu Xiu's Jamie Steward also collaborates) she's coming back with a new 6 tracks EP to be out the 6th of March on Sacred Bones. The EP is not available for pre-order yet and there's no information on the name of the tracks but she's sent one of the tracks to be included called Night to a couple of blogs and I have to say it's my favourite ZJ track yet. Although is her most accessible track so far as the fuzz, noises and lo-fi sound have mainly disappeared, the main characteristics and influences are still there. The track is a dense and mysterious song where she strengthens her voice and stops hiding it behind all the electronic noises she normally uses and has never sound as good. The people who have heard the whole EP says it's the closest she's been to sound Hi-Fi but the EP is still a dense exercise full of pounding drums, strings and choral sounds. And it has one of the best covers I've seen lately. Can't wait to hear it.

If there's something more exciting than a split single is a split single of two bands you like and if there's something even more exciting is when they are both covering an artist you also like. And this project released in the always interesting Upset The Rhythm label are friends and before collaborators Xiu Xiu and Parenthetical Girls both covering a song sung before by Mr Morrissey. While Xiu Xiu go for a track from Morrissey's Vauxhall & I, I Am Hated For Loving, Parenthetical Girls chose the Smiths classic Handsome Devil. And they even cover the cover of the record parading Smiths' classic cover of the What Difference Does It Make single and Morrissey's Years Of Refusal. Only for this is worth to buy it.
Xiu Xiu's cover is what you can expect from them to do with somebody else's song: transform it to the point it sounds like a Xiu Xiu song, with overly dramatic vocals and weird unsynchronized synths and percussion only recognisable because of the lyrics.
On the other side, the Parenthetical Girls version is closer to the original as they escape a bit from the orchestral production of their last record and pick up guitars again, although the pianos are still very present. The vocal harmony follows from close the one of the original and mades you think about The Smiths being a close influence from them, something I haven't thought since now but looks quite obvious thinking back.

Released 02/11/09