If Florence Welch and Shakira had a baby....

Zola Jesus courtesy of loudandquiet.com

Her name would be Zola Jesus. I recently discovered her music while watching my favorite show Skins and was instantly hooked on her unique voice. At first, you'd think it was Florence and the Machine but the longer you listen to her the more she starts to sound similar to Shakira...on operatic steroids...but in a good way!

Zola, whose real name is Nika Roza Danilova, hails from Wisconsin and at the ripe age of 22 already has three albums under her belt. Her style of music and her voice is delightfully haunting and some critics describe her as the "darling" of an indie goth-pop genre.

She sounds even better live which is a hard thing to do considering some singers who sing live sound terrible. When she came down to Tampa for a performance (which I unfortunately missed!) my alma mater reviewed her and said: 

With Jesus' operatic vocal style, the album has a mystical quality to it that translates well into her live show.....it's rare to find an artist whose live act surpasses their studio-made sound. Even the best known artists are known to sound a little rougher for the wear on stage but Jesus' music is all the more powerful when it's live and in the moment. Her voice pierces through the speakers, making everything in the room vibrate and enrapturing the audience in a veiled intimacy.

Needless to say, she's already one of my favorite singers and I can't wait to see what she puts out next! Take a listen below!