It feels like just yesterday that New Zealand’s Voodoo Bloo was unleashing his debut single, but now, the world is welcoming a powerful debut album by way of Jacobus.
Back in June, music fans the world over were thankful to receive ‘MMA’, the first single from Wellington’s Voodoo Bloo. Formed by former Lucifer Gunne frontman Rory McDonald, Voodoo Bloo is a project that draws influences from a diverse range of sources, showcasing a sound that shows the heavy influences of Marilyn Manson and System Of A Down, while still flirting with the careful songwriting of indie icons such as Car Seat Headrest and Neutral Milk Hotel.
While ‘MMA’ was soon followed up by ‘Her Name Was Human’ and ‘Ha Ha Ok Ok’, fans of the nascent project soon learned of Voodoo Bloo’s debut album, with Jacobus officially arriving on Friday, December 4th. Written as a tribute album of sorts, the record was born out of a difficult period for the artist, serving as a way for McDonald to deal with a period of grief and mourning.
“This album has been in the making for a very long time,” explains McDonald. “In all honesty, it took some major events in my life to create a lot of the material you hear on there, but it’s without a doubt some of the most truthful things I’ve ever said, and it really feels like it captures a moment in time that I never want to relive, but promise to remember for the rest of my life.
“This is the most passion I have ever put into anything, and when shifting through the final mixes I finally felt like I could put some stored up emotion to rest,” he adds. “Music is the most powerful tool I have to take control over my life, and I’ve never been more excited to use that tool to share some personal stories that I may have been too scared to tell in any other way.”
An exceptionally-powerful album that serves as a form of catharsis for the Kiwi artist, Jacobus quickly transitions from an exceptional introduction to a special musical project to an emotional outlet for which McDonald is able to confront and move on from a very painful time in his life.
Switching between the heaviness of tracks such as ‘Her Name Was Human’ and ‘Lost Connection’, and the reflective moments of ‘Homebody’ of ‘9th Of July, 2019’, the album is less of a collection of songs, and more of an auditory journey that Voodoo Bloo is inviting us on, and one you’ll be glad – and honoured – that you took.
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“There’s really too much to unpack without going on a tangent about why this record was made in the first place, but so many emotions came flooding back when I had to track these tunes,” he explains.
“As they were written at a very dark time in my life, finding the perfect voicing for every instrument was so important, and I finally feel like a lot of negative energy that was trapped inside of me got shoved into this audio-bottle of an LP, capturing a very important time of growth and self-discovery for me.”
Voodoo Bloo’s Jacobus is officially out on Friday, December 4th, but if you can’t wait that long, be sure to give it an early listen below.
Check out Jacobus by Voodoo Bloo:
