Zola Jesus @ St. Luke's, Glasgow, 31 Oct

The profound, warm voice of Nika Roza Danilova – aka Zola Jesus – fills the room with a mystic presence, declaiming the words of Manifest Destiny. The majestic, resolute sounds of the opening song wreathe the audience into the performance as guitarist Alex DeGroot creates the atmosphere stretching out notes, just a few chords directed with a delay pedal; smoke invades the stage, covering the organ behind them.

No themed flat party could compete with this scenario. “It’s my second Halloween in Glasgow. How weird is that?” Danilova jokes. “I know!” shouts an audience member. Danilova is barefoot, wearing a black and white vest. Its stripes complement the visuals, its batwing sleeves enhance her moves. She crawls down the mic, jumping and moving along with the rhythm; hiding behind her long black strands of hair, letting her internal energy flow from her whole body.

“This song is very special to me, it’s about my uncle’s suicide [attempt] last summer”, she says introducing Witness, one of the pivotal tracks in latest album, Okovi. “He’s still here fortunately. I had to perform this song in front of him and it was one of the hardest things I had to do.” Danilova performs it still, with open arms, closing with a subtle sigh.

In the repertoire there are songs from previous albums as well, such as the aforementioned opener and Night both from her recently-reissued Stridulum EP. Danilova moves around the stage looking people in the eye, approaching the front row of the audience who are just a step down – before jumping down amongst the crowd, the second time going a few metres deep. She’s leaning over, looking up at her fans who, pleasantly surprised, feed off her energy.

Her Australian viola player Louise Woodward is sadly unable to be here tonight due to visa issues, “so imagine there is a cool old-fashioned instrument right there”, Danilova says pointing to her right. We feel like these strings could have helped enrich the synths which form an essential base to the overall sound of Zola Jesus, so needless to say, Woodward's absence is heavily noticeable. Danilova and DeGroot still manage to deliver a smooth and captivating performance, effortlessly creating a vibe well-matched to Zola Jesus' songs.