Photos: Zora Jones Releases Sophomore Album 50 BULLETS TO THE HEART

An eleven-year-old boy from Arizona survived more than 400 bee stings by imagining himself as Vegeta, his favourite Dragon Ball Z character. As the bees attacked, he summoned the character's strength to withstand the pain. When Zora Jones heard his story, she immediately recognised something of herself in it, the instinct to use imagination to transform an unbearable experience into something survivable. That idea became the seed of 50 Bullets To The Heart, the Barcelona-based creative visionary's long-awaited sophomore album, released today (Wednesday 30th September) via Bellyfat.

The album opens with 'Hurt', its layered, choral vocals holding close the painful realisation that love alone is not enough. That fragile opening gives way to the title track's icy, juddering production and propulsive Miami bass rhythms. Written in the aftermath of heartbreak, '50 Bullets' turns an image of emotional devastation into one of defiance, with Zora's voice moving from intimacy to a final, commanding release. 'Makeup Bag - Part 2' continues a thread from this year's ANGEL CRISIS EP, drawing a chorus that came to Zora in a dream through grime and R&B influences. Its promise that she will love again carries both tenderness and resolve, as she rejects the idea that what was broken can be brought back.

On 'Ultrafreak', desire becomes its own act of reclamation. Largely recorded on an iPhone as the vocal poured out of her, the track embraces lust, femininity and the power Zora was once encouraged to conceal. 'Tony Montana' moves into more haunted territory. Written on the final day of a difficult relationship, it finds her intimate vocals suspended among spectral synths and reworked gunshots, capturing the moment she knew she had to leave. The charged Jersey club inspired rhythms of 'Hysteric Angel' offer a rush of dancefloor energy, though a melancholic undertow remains beneath its hook, emerging fully in the delicate piano outro.

Fantasy opens another path through the album on 'Summer Baddies'. Written while severe back pain left Zora unable to walk for seven months, its Neptunes-inspired production conjures an imaginary drive with her closest friends and a momentary escape from the limits of her body. 'Full Moon' traces a more unsettling shift in perception, moving between the moment she understood the depth of what she had experienced and the later point at which she was able to let go. Piano, R&B and a grime-inflected passage carry the song between those two states. The heavily compressed drums and explosive breakdown of 'Russian Roulette' turn emotional risk into a stark warning, while 'Diamond Body' draws on a lifetime of chronic pain for a letter to herself about the courage it takes to feel rather than flee.

As the record draws to a close, 'Little Bird' finds warmth and beauty within uncertainty. Then 'Crunk In Love' brings its journey to a triumphant conclusion. Driven by huge funk textures and lush 808s, the track is a love letter to Zora herself, finding freedom in the decision to leave behind what cannot give her what she deserves.

Across 50 Bullets To The Heart, the body becomes both battleground and source of power and something that can hurt, desire, endure, collapse, dance and recover. Miami bass, Jersey club, grime, crunk, R&B, funk and soul move through a record as technically intricate as it is emotionally unguarded. Heartbreak, grief, lust and chronic pain exist alongside fantasy and release, with Zora reshaping each experience into a world entirely her own. Stepping out from behind the DAW and into her full presence as a vocalist, songwriter and performer, she places her voice, body and personal history at the centre of her work.

Last month, Zora debuted her new AV live show at MUTEK Montreal, performing the album in full for the first time. The ambitious production saw her sing, loop her vocals and play keys onstage, surrounded by a custom lighting design illuminated from below. Marking a new chapter for Zora as a live performer, the show appeared at LUNCHMEAT Festival last weekend and next travels to Le Botanique in Brussels this October.

Earlier this year, Zora released ANGEL CRISIS, her first solo project in five years, to acclaim from Resident Advisor, Mixmag, DJ Mag, CRACK and Pitchfork. The six-track EP arrived as a high-pressure transmission from the edge of the dancefloor, wired with vulnerability. Its immersive visual world, threaded with moth imagery across 3D artwork and photography, became a symbol of transformation and survival.

Zora Jones has long existed at the intersection of sound, emotion and digital world-building. From the spectral futurism of her 2020 debut Ten Billion Angels to her pioneering audiovisual experiments with Fractal Fantasy, she remains a singular force for innovation in club culture. Her discography spans releases on Planet Mu and collaborations with Jlin, La Zowi, Scratcha DVA, Heavee and more.

Live Dates

17th October - Le Botanique, Brussels [LIVE]

21st November - Listen Festival, Brussels [DJ]

50 Bullets To The Heart Tracklist

1. Hurt

2. 50 Bullets

3. Makeup Bag - Part 2

4. Ultrafreak

5. Tony Montana

6. Hysteric Angel

7. Summer Baddies

8. Full Moon

9. Russian Roulette

10. Diamond Body

11. Little Bird

12. Crunk In Love

Photo Credit: Kenneth Carreon