Zola Jesus is set to release an album of orchestral interpretations of her oeuvre dubbed Versions on August 20 with Sacred Bones. Inspired by her 2012 live team-up with J. G. Thirwell for the Guggenheim, the 10-song studio set swaths her older work in strings and allows the singer to display her powerful pipes in a more classical format. The new LP is “about the bone of the music,” Nika Roza Danilova said via statement, and indeed the first share from Versions finds majesty through minimalism. Originally hailing from 2011’s excellent Conatus, “Avalanche (Slow)” ditches the doomy synths for a more truly wintry accompaniment. “In the end, I saw you,” Zola sings, “Visions of something I wasn’t used to.” But while our singer has cast herself in new surroundings, she sounds more at home here over Thirwell’s arrangements than ever before.
