STRATEGIC ARTIST ADVOCACY SINCE 1997
"The record leans into dark corners of the psyche... Some of the uplift comes from the artist's singular delivery—a distillation of a sober Jim Morrison and less surreal Screamin' Jay Hawkins."
J Hacha De Zola chats with Jedd Beaudoin of Strange Currency on KMUW about 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦, J's latest album out now.
Follow the link and read while you listen here.
"If anything is gonna blow this song up, it's gonna be Travis's sweet dance moves!" - J Hacha De Zola
"Travis, our actor, is pretty darned good at relaying emotions," agrees Hector Gallardo of Subharmonic City, the director of the "A Day In Secaucus, New Jersey" video.
The song is from J Hacha De Zola's upcoming new album 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦, out June 9 (distributed by Slow Start Records). Watch it now via our friends at V13!
"Showcasing his completely original approach to crafting American music" is what J Hacha De Zola is doing on the new single "Do You?," premiering today over at Glide Magazine!
The song is "a full serving J Hacha De Zola’s smooth crooning and playfully mysterious approach to a love song (or anti-love song?)" and finds him "leaning into a brooding, Motown-influenced sound."
The new album 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 (J's sixth) is out June 9 via his Caballo Negro label distributed by Slow Start / Burnside / The Orchard.
"Dirty Jerzee" is what J Hacha De Zola calls the New Jersey of his youth, which still inhabits his mind and music to this day.
It's not Bruce Springsteen's Jersey, that's for sure!
Hear it on the new single "A Day In Secaucus, New Jersey," out now from the upcoming album 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦, arriving June 9 on Caballo Negro Records (distributed by Slow Start Records via The Orchard). Find the whole song via the link, and check out the album trailer below.
"J Hacha De Zola's clashing sounds of punk, burlesque, and cabaret stylings just to name a few, instruments caterwaul while circling around like vultures awaiting dying meals… Horns, guitars, and wild-man vocals are all meshed together but are distinctive in delivery.”
The words of Ghettoblaster's Eddie Ugarte! Hear "A Day In Secaucus, New Jersey" now.
𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 arrives June 9 via Caballo Negro, distributed by Slow Start Records! Photos by Adrian Buckmaster.
Back when he began recording 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦, J Hacha De Zola called to say he was collaborating with Fernando Vélez, an original member of the Dap-Kings.
I started to imagine what Fernando's musical contributions and sonic wisdom would bring to this record when paired up with J's distinctive style and point of view.
Jedd Beaudoin of Strange Currency has already called 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 the "spookiest make-out record of 2023 or any other other year," perfectly capturing what my thoughts had aspired to!
Hear "Stay Away" now. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 arrives June 9 via Caballo Negro, distributed by Slow Start Records! Photos by Adrian Buckmaster.
The Harry Styles hit "As It Was" became the fourth longest-running #1 single of all-time on the Billboard Hot 100 yesterday, so we can't wait any longer to jump on the bandwagon and bring you the J Hacha De Zola cover we promised last week!
Many thanks out to Cover Me for posting this one!
They say, "No matter his source material, he’s more likely to invoke garage rock or Tom Waits than he is the Top 40 charts. And that holds on his latest, a wild reimagining of Harry Styles’ monster hit 'As It Was' complete with pounding percussion, spooky vocals, and a big flamenco-horn finish."
As I mentioned last week, I had never heard this song (I since have, many times, haha!) and I have to say that I now love what J did with it even more. He took the emotional core and soul of this tune and turned it way up!
J Hacha De Zola's version of "As It Was" hits all streamers tomorrow. We'll have some new Hacha album news for you later this week, too!
Photo credit: Christine Samaroo
J Hacha De Zola keeps evolving! First, with last summer's epic 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘦𝘯, and now - as he finishes the follow-up album - this four-song "visual" EP dropping on Friday called “Not Acoustic,” out this Friday. Today, It’s Psychedelic Baby is screening "Strange" for us, the first of four tunes from his catalog shot solo and live-to-camera in the studio. This is J in character but raw, poised but imperfect.
The one-man wrecking crew Adam Bernard ((of Adam’s World) was one of the first to the party on J Hacha De Zola; now East of Eden, the latest crystallization of J’s tunes, has landed on Adam's "Must Hear" list. He notes J’s sonic journey from a Frank Zappa-inspired psycho into an “absolutely fantastic” purveyor of Doors-type blues-psych.
It don't stop in the two-two! See you on the other side… I made two more references to The Doors there, I hope you enjoy.
"Irrepressible blues. Brilliant stuff, beautifully shot," says Backseat Mafia today of the PULP Productions-created video for J Hacha De Zola’s “Faded," J's personal favorite tune on his current album East of Eden.
“J's music is an ode to strangeness, an invitation to dream and wander through dark, deeply poetic tales," says director/editor Victoria Rio. "The video was shot in a gorgeous derelict townhouse in the heart of London. We were incredibly lucky to be able to film in this location.”
"I was angry when I wrote it," says J Hacha De Zola. The video for "Which Way," the song of which he speaks, is playing today over at New Noise Magazine. Check out the Subharmonic City-produced clip now!
J explains, "A dear friend, just someone who I really loved and thought the world of, was taken from us by COVID. When that happened, it made the pandemic real to me. That’s where the song came from."
"Which Way," from J's stellar new album 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘦𝘯, is streaming everywhere and anywhere here.
“J Hacha De Zola is mostly self-deprecating when it comes to his art, but there’s a methodical movement to his musical madness," writes Tina Benitez-Eves, doing an incredible thing at American Songwriter and digging deep for this overview.
I’ve worked with J for a long time, and it's one of those situations where I have the privilege of seeing an artist create a persona and then systematically step into it over time. This piece reflects that back to me… love it! Okay, back to the hype: 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘦𝘯 is out now. Listen to it over and over and over at Fanatic.lnk.to/JHachaDeZola-EastOfEden.
J Hacha De Zola’s fifth album East Of Eden is out now and receiving lots of love because it's lovely. Ghettoblaster has been going deep, interviewing De Zola and naming the deep cut "Sad Song” - a deep song itself - as one of the "The Best Songs This Year (So Far)," saying, “It’s a love song that has no comparison in its majesty." Well, damn!
In a far-reaching interview, J Hacha De Zola tells Ghettoblaster about a grip of heady topics including growing up as the son of immigrants, his early love for Afro-Cuban music, and how he’s always striving to create something unique with his music. He’s succeeded on 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘦𝘯 (out now via Caballo Negro), which, as Ghettoblaster notes, is a vivid expansion of his “urban junkyard” aesthetic.
J Hacha De Zola is reaching lots of new listeners with his fifth album 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘦𝘯, where his eccentricities as a musician and performer have found just the right mix with his endearing songwriting.
Today, Rock & Roll Globe’s J. Poet writes that he’s “created a new sonic landscape… His warm baritone is at the center of the mix, and the comforting harmonies that grace the tracks suggest the cheery vocals of the soul and doo-wop hits that provided his inspiration."