San Francisco-based ZOLA pulls back that curtain of her soul on debut LP Maple, allowing listeners an intimate glimpse into the last ten years of the singer-songwriter’s life; her phosphorescent voice shines a light on all the ways growing as an individual is just an exercise in coping. From relationships that come apart at the seams and the whims of adulthood to the looming worries of the world around her — ZOLA wrangles with it all in earnest.

Heartfelt alt-pop that leaves you aglow

Radiant and buoyant, ZOLA’s fluid alt-pop sound supplies Maple with its heartwarming sound. Even as she navigates everyday melancholy, honking at cars driving through stop signs and digesting bleak world news, those upbeat melodies illuminate the overlooked joys we quietly encounter, the affectionate gifting of dessert items, finding friendship in a stranger, or just soaking up a perfect day outside.

But it also soundtracks her bedroom hibernation in “Disco In San Francisco,” the track’s subdued, effervescent tones and the husky dreaminess of ZOLA’s voice fill the atmospherics with a liberating weightlessness. Another earworm, “Way I Should,” unfolds as a punchy exchange of bass, drums, and shimmering acoustics reveals the startling ways she finds herself no longer bound to the burdensome feelings that once tied her to a lopsided relationship.

Sonorous folk acoustics that reckon with the difficulty of finding closure

The lifeblood of Maple lies in its lilting acoustic folk, at times just a tangle of heartstring-tugging instrumentals, though there are moments where ZOLA lets loose a jolt of clamorous rock. It’s then that the piercing softness of her words becomes irrefutably apparent, tracing her attempts to find comfort in tried and true methods of coping (“Old Playlists”), as well as desperate grasps for closure (“I Am the Cowboy”). The latter ends in a jaw-dropping heft of fiery folk-rock and ZOLA’s ecstatic cries, underscoring her ability to deliver whatever sonic output is required to tap into the searing emotionality of her music.

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An empowering reminder of the importance of letting go

That tendency toward clinging to what’s familiar is threaded through Maple, as ZOLA tries to reconcile personal growth with all that’s been left behind. Sometimes the things that are relinquished are a long time coming, her tongue-in-cheek lyricism unburdening her from the inconsiderate self-centeredness of an ex or the compulsion to prolong healing by remaining stuck in the past.

“I like leaving wounds open / Pick at them until there’s nothing left / But a scar and the guilt in my head,” she confesses. She shares a laundry list of red flags on “Sentimental,” exposing the little and big ways her relationships were one-sided expressions of empathy and responsibility. “Never got groceries it wasn’t your thing / never said ‘thank you’ I’m feeling the sting,” ZOLA muses. “You never held me said it was too much / never the charmer but always the judge / never felt sweet it was always a grudge.”

The album’s closing track, “Don’t Even,” ties together the collection’s steadfast faith that growth is impossible without first letting go of the things that weigh you down. Her words glimmer, floating along to the song’s resplendent acoustic tilt, ZOLA starts to find some small, fledgling tranquility in the knowledge that time smooths everything over.

All that was once so charged with anxiety and heartache is soothed by the realization that the people she once gave all of herself to never truly knew her, or at the very least, never tried to know her. A revelation that is less agonizing and more empowering — an assurance that ZOLA finds herself on a path that prioritizes her emotional well-being.

Words: Steven Ward

Visit ZOLA on her website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.

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