Eva Zakula Unlearns Perfection and Finds Freedom in “Be Ye Lil Gods”
Eva Zakula’s music feels like the work of someone who creates from the inside out. “Be Ye Lil Gods” plays like a record built in real time, each song unfolding as part of a larger process she’s been living for years, a journey that began in the Bay Area, where she once led hymns and performances, and stretched into long walks from Los Angeles to Santa Monica.
Her writing is about preserving a moment before it fades. Sometimes it’s a bassline carrying the weight of a thought she hasn’t yet named. At other times, it’s a vocal take that captures the essence of the room, including imperfections. Eva has embraced this ethos by unlearning technical perfection and reaching for something raw, honest, and emotional.
The sequence moves in arcs rather than a straight climb. “High” opens with a steady, low pulse that feels both grounded and slightly adrift. “Lucy” lets in a warmer current, weaving funk and R&B textures into the mix.
By “Warm Breath,” the frame has widened again, with bossa inflections, jazz‑fusion details, and a layering style that builds presence without crowding the space. That openness reflects her wide-ranging influences, from Stevie Wonder’s Jesus Children of America to artists as diverse as Bette Midler, Smokey Robinson, Wolfmother, Chaka Khan, and Julie London.
What holds the record together is a consistent emotional register. Zakula writes from a place where openness and resolve come from the same impulse. The production strikes a balance, offering enough space for the listener to step in while maintaining a clear sense of structure.
That balance is the result of years of performing, beginning with her first garage band at sixteen, Eva and The Handsome’s, followed by her training at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts, and now leading Los Angeles nightlife with her all-girl band, The LA Flakes.
She has described the album as the outcome of unlearning the technical reflexes built over years of performing and recording. That shift toward a more aligned, spiritually guided process is audible in the looseness of the arrangements and in the way the songs move at their own pace. There’s no rush to the hook, no forced resolution. For Zakula, this project became a mantra and a vocation, “the most honest version of me I’ve ever shared,” as she has put it.
“Be Ye Lil Gods” works as an invitation. It leaves space for the listener to notice their own internal shifts, to sit with them, and to decide what to do next. In that sense, the record reflects her belief that music should reconnect us with our humanity, reminding us of both power and softness, and inviting us to become, as she says, “the god or goddess of your own life.”