Arca is a 36 year old musician, singer, composer, producer, DJ, model & audio engineer from Caracas, Venezuela who dropped her full-length studio debut Xen during my senior year of high school followed by the sophomore effort Mutant exactly 12 months later. Her eponymous 3rd album under XL Recordings elevated herself beyond her earlier out & the same can be said regarding the entire kiCK pentalogy initially conceived in the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, finally returning following the series’ conclusion for her 8th studio LP.
The intro “No Ends” kicks off the opening 91 seconds sampling “In the Face” for a spoken word passage regarding shadows speaking to her whereas “Willow” somewhat gives me an Aphex Twin vibe instrumentally including a chorus describing a willow tree blowing in the wind. “Eidolon” heads for a deconstructed club direction singing in Spanish about living for the moment & “Heart” continues the Spanish performances calling for everyone to watch her transmute.
“Syncope” keeps things going from there taking a compositional approach & it feels like something the late SOPHIE would’ve made if she was still here just before “Raver” fiercely taking it bake to Arca’s own roots a bit in terms of sound. The minute & a half “Cinch” gives us a brief verse describing a woman who’s moving further into the unknown with her eyes closed while “Fuck” reaches the midway point of XXXXX yearning to have sex like her partner has sincere love for her.
Kicking off the 2nd half, “Finisher” interestingly samples “Family Violence” including these jaw-dropping string serine & an outro explaining you were never alone prior to “Taconeando” fully embraces the Spanish lyricism once again talking about heeling under the lights. “Futurality” lets the instrumental do the speaking for here basically telling us the future has become reality while “Grip” once again feels like a refined version of something Arca would’ve done on Xen.
“Enraptured” winds down XXXXX’s last act continues to refine the Xen aesthetics asking her partner if they’re ready to come & get it while “Throb” has moments that take me back to the “@@@@@“ single she dropped before the pandemic preceding the kiCK saga. “Everything” comes through with an optimistic spiritual successor to “Alive” off Mutant & the outro “Sueño” concludes with a finalized version of “Arpia” previewed last fall.
Many including myself had to ask where Arca would go beyond the kiCK series & XXXXX answers that with a return to form playfully interrupting the rhythm of the rest of her discography. deconstructed club, IDM, epic collage, glitch, UK bass, glitch hop, wonky, glitch pop, ambient pop, wave & progressive electronic production mostly feels like her interestingly trying to perfect what she was doing on her earliest output at many points, rawly exploring a space between worlds where transformation is both terrifying & freeing.
Score: 4.5/5
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