Liza Liakh
Zenit

There are times when music speaks directly to the soul and Zenit, the latest EP from Ukrainian artist Liza Liakh, does just that. Born out of loss, distance, and rediscovery, it’s a quietly powerful reimagining of midsummer ritual, filtered through electronic textures and deeply personal storytelling.
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Liza’s roots are in opera; you can hear it in the control, the breath, and the emotional charge in her vocals. But here, she moves differently. Based now in Prague after fleeing war in Ukraine, she turns to composition as a way of holding memory. Zenit blends folk elements with synths and ambient layers, but it’s not about genre. It’s about presence.

Each of the four tracks follows the arc of Ivana Kupala, the Ukrainian summer solstice celebration. There’s the wreath that floats downriver, the mysterious tree of transformation, the firelit joy of the solstice peak, and finally, the surrender, a lone figure becoming a mermaid, carried off by water.
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Originally written for a dance piece where Liakh performed live, Zenit doesn’t rush or shout. It moves with grace, with intention. There’s space between the notes, and in that space, you feel history, loss, and a kind of hard-won peace.
Zenit is not flashy. It’s not trying to prove anything. It simply is, a ritual set to sound, from someone who’s lived what it means to let go.