Zola Jesus returns with cover of Lousine Zakarian's "Krunk" for Bandcamp Fridays

The cover of "Krunk" arrives today (4 December) as part of Bandcamp Fridays, which sees the music platform waive its revenue shares for 24 hours on the first Friday of each month to help musicians during the coronavirus pandemic.

Zola Jesus' cover of the Armenian folk standard will see all proceeds donates to the Armenia Fund and their efforts to provide aid during the ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan.

On the cover, Zola Jesus writes, "I first heard the song "Krunk" (Crane) while listening to a collection of songs sung by Lousine Zakarian, a renowned Armenian soprano. Her recording was so devastatingly beautiful, it spoke to me on many levels. The song evoked so much yearning and sadness, yet at the same time it felt so delicate, like her voice could lift off and fly away. It felt like the purest expression of the ineffable Armenian Soul. I never thought I’d be able to do the song justice, and I still don’t, but the song is so meaningful to me that performing it became a compulsion."

Zola Jesus continues, "Once I heard about the crisis happening in Artsakh, my heart really pained for the Armenian people. They have survived genocides, wars, battles for autonomy and independence, and now this - fighting to reclaim a sacred place that represents so much of their ancient heritage and resilience. I wanted to honor and pay my support to the Armenian Soul, and to acknowledge all the lives tragically lost this year in the war with Azerbaijan. Proceeds of this song will go to the Armenian Fund, to help support the needs of civilians on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh.)"

The last studio album released by Zola Jesus was 2017's Okovi.