“Like a junkyard DaVinci,” says Stereo Embers, calling
new album “an aching collection of dark and dreamy doo-wop, street soul and
urban R&B.”
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J Hacha De Zola as photographed by Christine Samaroo
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J Hacha De Zola | “Lost Space”
Stereo Embers does a deep dive with J Hacha De Zola on the latest episode of the podcast, describing the artist as “A feral blend of David Johansen, Screaming Lord Sutch and Nick Cave. Like a junkyard DaVinci, Hacha De Zola has demonstrated that he knows how to take rusty horns, scrap metal saxophones, guttered guitars and battered drums and turn them into pure gold.”
“Balances romantic crooner pop with the junkyard blues weirdness of Tom Waits—the end result something like Lee Hazlewood at his late ‘60s peak,” says Treble Zine in its premiere coverage of the video for J Hacha De Zola’s “Lost Space,” calling the clip, “a delightful noir hallucination.”[PODCAST]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/StereoEmbersPodcast-JHachaDeZola
[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOW1WohzdOA
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J Hacha De Zola | “Which Way”
J Hacha De Zola chats with American Songwriter about his powerful new single “Which Way,” taken from his fifth album East of Eden, out now via Caballo Negro.
“Never before have I felt such a departure from reality as I have during the lockdown—people dying, family, friends, and their family, dying,” reveals Hacha De Zola, discussing the deep feelings behind his new single “Which Way,” out now.
He tells American Songwriter, “Never before was there this blatant defiance of all rational thought being demonstrated by those in positions of power, pure fear, pure hype, [and] the population at large seemingly trapped in this dogmatic, dualistic fatalistic slow decay.”
[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/JHachaDeZola-WhichWay
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J Hacha De Zola
East of Eden
Out Now
(Caballo Negro)
Streaming Link:
STREAM FULL LP
Track Listing:
01. Faded
02. Lost Space (STREAM | VIDEO)
03. Which Way (STREAM)
04. East of Eden
05. A Viral Spring
06. Shadows On Glass
07. That Pleading Tone
08. Sad Song
09. Green and Golden
10. Meet Me
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J Hacha De Zola | In The Press
“A wild man.” — Paste
“Alluring and unsettling.” — NJ.com
“The kind of alluring character found in old children’s books.” — UTNE
“Dangerously delightful.” — The Big Takeover
“Bound to light the way forward and inspire a legion of imitators.” — PopMatters
“Beckoning listeners somewhere exciting.” — BTRtoday
“Possessed and cacophonic.” — Atwood Magazine
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“As enticing as it is distant and strange.” — MAGNET
“Sits at his own, most likely oddly shaped table.” — Pancakes and Whiskey
“No one around left to hit him with any sort of healthy competition.” — Ghettoblaster
“One of the most important and singular artists making music today.” — Stereo Embers
“A challenging, at times daunting, listen.” — BLURT
“Mutant blues rock.” — Treble
“A modern day Frank Zappa.” — Adam’s World
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J Hacha De Zola | About
His look is more accessible this time around – see the dignified vibes of his latest single and album art – and his sound matches.
“This record is unlike any other I have made previously,” the Jersey City-based artist acknowledges. “I stayed focused on what was truly best for each song, keeping it somewhat simple – at least for me – rather than allowing myself to become overly self-indulgent in terms of running away on tangents.”
The result is an album that exemplifies the universe that Hacha De Zola has built over his four previous albums (as well as EPs that cover ground from the all-Spanish “Syn Illusión” to his versions of hits by female pop stars on “UnPOPular”), while also charting new territory.
East of Eden is some kind of place where Jim Morrison did downers instead of acid in the control room during the recording of Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig In The Sky.”
As Hacha De Zola tells it, the creation of this record was actually less frenetic than all that.
“I came into the studio with a developed concept, and the songs written already,” he says. “This time, I had a clear cut direction ready to go. I have to be honest, I have never really been comfortable with my singing voice, and I wanted to do something that would be more challenging.”
The push pays off, as Hacha De Zola’s vocals are the focus here. Where previous records saw him vocalizing in a way that complimented the music, this time the music compliments the man.
“A big inspiration for me on East of Eden was the vocal group tradition from the 1950s and 60s,” he says. “Especially those from New Jersey, New York, and Detroit. Doo-wop groups like Sha Na Na, The Temptations, The Four Seasons, and others. Being a Jersey boy, I couldn’t help but be influenced in the rich vocal singing group tradition and history in this area.”
Digging into the roots of his musical soul, literally and figuratively, sounds pure in context throughout the new album, and especially on its pre-release singles “Lost Space” and “Which Way,” showing off a level of maturity and thoughtfulness that can only come from the development that years of album-making brings.
“Even with all of its imperfections, it was very important for me to bring the nuances of the vocal components of this record right to the front. I truly feel that I have found my own voice,” Hacha De Zola says.
With that, he may never return to the “urban junkyard” and his method of rendering records via his “reductive synthesis” method (read about it here) ever again. It is a position that is congruent with the state of the world that longed to “return to normal,” but may never be able to find the way back to exactly that.
“The title of the record reflects that,” Hacha De Zola explains. “East of Eden, a sense of being left behind or abandoned, banished from the ‘garden.’ Off to the Land of Nod where Cain was banished for murdering his brother, Abel.
“It’s a bit of a biblical reference that I found was quite apt,” he continues. “Especially during this moment of divisiveness among so many people over so many things. Lyrically, I couldn’t help but infuse many of these feelings into the songs.”
Hacha De Zola’s “Which Way” single is one that best reflects his hard-won ability to infuse these real emotions into what has become known as somewhat esoteric work.
“That song was a way of taking inventory of the chaos and confusion of the moment. It’s a somber song, and it wasn’t an easy one to write. At the time, it was very difficult to focus on anything other than trying to protect the vulnerable members of my family and not getting sick. I had to push myself pretty hard to work through the fear.”
His new strength and resolve fits Hacha De Zola well, just like the natty new clothes on his back.
East of Eden, the fifth album by J Hacha De Zola, is out now.
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Also Out Now | J Hacha De Zola’s Greatest Hits
Obviously, as a songwriter, J Hacha De Zola and John Denver come from vastly different places, with different musical ideas… As for the could-be-ironic, mostly inexplicable, definitely fun tribute that is the J Hacha De Zola’s Greatest Hits album cover, a dead-on approximation of singer-songwriter John Denver’s own eponymous and iconic John Denver’s Greatest Hits album image… Hacha De Zola focuses in on, and connects with what they have deeply in common, saying, “I loved this idea of being exactly what you are. Whatever you are, be it.”
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J Hacha De Zola
J Hacha De Zola’s Greatest Hits
Out Now
(Caballo Negro)
Streaming Link:
STREAM FULL LP
Track Listing:
01. Blue Sky (STREAM | VIDEO)
02. Strange (STREAM | VIDEO)
03. El Desgraciado
04. No Situation
05. El Chucho
06. On A Saturday
07. Lightning Rod Salesman
08. Bubble Gum
09. Black Sparrow
10. Anarchy
11. A Fools Moon
12. Syn Illusión
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J Hacha De Zola | Links
ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL
