Wednesday, August 16, 2017

J Hacha de Zola channels Lee Hazlewood, Leonard Cohen on upcoming third full-length “Antipatico” (translation: “Wicked”), out Oct. 6th.

Rahway artist practices “reductive synthesis” in studio with members of Morphine, Klezmatics, Gato Loco, legendary sax man Ralph Carney.

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J Hacha de Zola as photographed by Miguel Peralta Jr.

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“When there’s a song of this caliber we all must take note,” says Ghettoblaster. Check out “A Fanciful Invention” via the links below!






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J Hacha de Zola – In The Press

“The kind of alluring character found in old children’s books.” — UTNE

“The main influence is that of Tom Waits. But if Zola has influences, he also has talent.” — VOIR (Canada)

“To say that De Zola’s creative process and musical style are unique is an understatement.” — SLUG

“Mutant blues rock.” — Treble Zine

“A twisted, dystopian narrative straight from the mind of John Carpenter.” — Elmore

“Visionary.” — BLURT

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Hoboken! The Latest Noise Presents: J Hacha de Zola celebrating the release of Antipatico at Maxwell’s on Sat. Oct. 14th.

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“This one felt like a good way to close out the record,” says Rahway, New Jersey’s J Hacha de Zola of “A Fanciful Invention,” the new single from his upcoming third album ​​Antipatico, arriving ​​October 6th, 2017. “It opens up with a Kaval beatbox, which is a Bulgarian folk instrument. The song is a lamentation – the entire record has a theme of dark romanticism going and this one is very much part of that, being about the paradoxical nature of love. Does it exist at all? Does anyone love anyone? ‘Love is a fanciful invention,’ an unrealistic enterprise rife with the extreme emotion,” he says.

The tune is but one example of the magical voodoo to be found on Antipatico, (translation: “wicked”) which follows-up Picaro Obscuro, the second of Hacha de Zola’s two “urban junkyard” albums of 2016. At the time of that record’s release, ​​Hacha de Zola insinuated that he might not continue on to make a third, and if he did, his plan was to “lighten up” the sound that he has variously, previously (ominously?) described as “boozegaze.” Turns out maybe he was overthinking things, which isn’t so surprising for a scientist turned auteur. Indeed, Hacha de Zola was a year deep into a PhD program after receiving his Master’s in Biochemistry when he decided to fully turn his attention towards his art.

On Antipatico, ​​Hacha de Zola (and his gaggle of cohorts and underground legends including ​​Dana Colley of ​​Morphine, ​​Tom Waits collaborator ​​Ralph Carney, ​​Frank London of ​​Klezmatics, and “Psycho Mambo” collective, ​​Gato Loco among others) is again practicing his “reductive synthesis” method of, as he elegantly says, “shooting the arrow first and then painting the bullseye around it.”

​​Hacha de Zola explains, “I never go to the studio with songs written. I allow the musicians to be themselves and throw all they’ve got at it. Then I’ll go and peel back the various layers to fashion a song from it all. It’s a pretty risky way of making an album because when it’s all done, you may have something that isn’t agreeable to you. Other times, you arrive at something truly magical and the songs take on a life of their own. There’s a certain kind of voodoo there that could not be planned.”

Antipatico, the latest album from J Hacha de Zola, arrives October 6th, 2017. Hacha de Zola is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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J Hacha de Zola
Antipatico
(Caballo Negro Records)
October 6th, 2017


Track Listing:

01. Antipatico
02. March of the Hollowmen
03. Lightning Rod Salesman
04. No Situation  (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)
05. El Desgraciado
06. On a Sleepless Night
07. Eigengrau
08. That Same Thing
09. Amaranthine
10. A Fanciful Invention (YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY | APPLE | SOUNDCLOUD | MP3)

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J Hacha de Zola Links


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Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion


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