Tag Archives: zola jesus

“Exhumed” by Zola Jesus

15 Oct

The Sparkling Darkness of “Vessel” by Zola Jesus

5 Feb

It is not always easy to tell the difference between psychedelic and surreal. Both aesthetics are obsessed with dreams and surfaces and the dissolving ego, both are very playful. Usually – not always – you will find a lot more light and color in psychedelic art. On the other hand it tends to get closer to the surreal as soon as darker tones are struck.

This is what makes this clip interesting. It is genuinely dark and psychedelic. Until the moth in the final seconds it avoids symbolism and sticks to the sparkling manifold of the surface. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more of this merging of psychedelic and gothic aesthetics in the future.