New Album by Zola Jesus Ponders Human Extinction

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For all you music-loving antinatalists – those who believe the human race should be extinguished – well, there is a new, infectious soundtrack to your fated beliefs.

Singer and songwriter Zola Jesus, the stage name of Nika Roza Danilova, spoke recently about her latest album Taiga, a catalog of thoughtful tunes that ponder the larger, loftier questions about human existence.

She adheres to a philosophy championed by Norwegian metaphysician Peter Wessel Zapffe. Antinatalism roughly translates to believing in a system against birth, and supported by such groups as the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement.

“He’s said a lot of things about how humanity just feels so uncomfortable with being alive — our consciousness is too advanced for us to be able to live. Basically, we’re over-evolved animals,” Danilova said in regards to Zapffe. “Our ability to think about greater concepts isn’t necessarily helping our existence, and it’s creating more anxiety.”

Danilova left the noise and chaos of Los Angeles to write this album in the calm and isolation of rural Vermont, Wisconsin, and Washington.

“It’s about man versus nature, how man internalizes being a part of nature,” said Danilova to Rolling Stone. “We build these cities to protect ourselves, and insulate ourselves from the real world. What does that mean in terms of our future, and in terms of our past?”

Still, for all these heavy conversations, the fifth album put out by the 25-year-old American artist is infused with pop styles, as well as electronic and experimental influences, that are fun and catchy.

Zola Jesus is currently on tour promoting Taiga. You can see a sample from the album below.