Video: Arca – Reverie

Taken from the new album Arca, out April 7 on XL Recordings. http://x-l.co/arca
Conceived by Jesse Kanda and Alejandro Ghersi

Video: Arca – Vanity

Arca has revealed ‘Vanity’, the latest song and accompanying video from his forthcoming album Mutant. Shot in Paris, the ‘Vanity’ video carries on the tradition and aesthetic of Mutant’s photography and videos so far and was again shot by Arca himself, this time with some help from Daniel Sannwald. It’s the third song to be released from the album, following previous tracks ‘Soichiro’ and ‘EN’.

Mutant is Arca’s second full-length album and the follow up to his highly acclaimed debut album Xen. Released on 20 November 2015 on Mute, the album will be available on CD, download and as a double LP, and again features artwork from long-time collaborator and friend Jesse Kanda.

Arca today also announces a rare New York DJ set. He will perform at PILLOWQUEEN: a Circuit Slumber Party with music by Shayne Oliver, Ashland Miles and Alejandro Ghersi hosted by Ian Isisah and special guests which will take place at Output on Thursday 3 December. For full ticket info head tohttp://outputclub.com

Meanwhile, Arca will join Benji B as special guest on his BBC Radio 1 show this week. The show will feature a full interview and exclusive tracks from Mutant, broadcast from 1am UK time on Thursday 12 November. Further information is available via http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nn4z6.

ARCA – Mutant LP

Arca has today confirmed details of his second full-length album for Mute. Titled Mutant, the album will be released on 20 November 2015. It will be available on CD, download and as a double LP, and again features artwork from long-time collaborator and friend Jesse Kanda.

Watch the video for ‘EN’, directed by Arca, below:

Where Arca’s previous release Xen (2014) was introspective, Mutant is outwardly emboldened. Dedicated to and coloured by the important people in Arca’s life, Mutant illustrates the continuing mutations catalysed by loved ones: friends, family, acquaintances. Arca morphs for them and because of them. Both releases are contortionist shape-shifters, but where Xen asked us to meet her in her world, Mutant comes out to meet us in the light. Mutant is suggestively agape, embracing multiple sensualities with refreshing softness. Jesse Kanda’s organic cover art, luminous where Xen’s was shrouded, is a reflection of this.

In the artist’s words: ‘Mutant is about sensuality and impulsiveness as escape routes out of rigidity. Softness as a weapon when the mind attacks itself.’ Mutations in the records’ textures parallel the malleability of identity; tension is harmonised by openness and the inclusiveness of transformation. Pride is taken in deformity, innocence, distortion and vulnerability: traits often ostracised as undesirable. Themes that have animated Arca’s work – tension, polarities, playfulness, eroticism, mutability – have been refracted into newer, more nuanced shades. Fluctuation, in-betweenness, intimacy and chaos are celebrated.

The title track softens the space between abrasion and enlightenment, morphing from snarling aggression to elusive vapour, the atmosphere shifting at unexpected moments. Its impulsive video consists of an unchoreographed first and single take of Arca dancing. The attached self-portraits of Arca are comparably raw. ‘Anger’ is celebratory and carnival-esque, while ‘Faggot’ concludes with rhythmic allusions to the title track from Xen. The dripping sounds of ‘Umbilical’, fused with the title’s connotations of birth, clash with digital static. ‘Enveloped’ is a label suggestive of overwhelming but comforting containment, yet the track itself feels liberated, with warped strings crawling from the uniform rhythm in the piece’s latter moments. ‘Vanity’, ‘Snakes’ and ‘Soichiro’ are personal and intimate sweltering rainforests of sound. Buds open as tracks unfold, petals of the darkest reds and most vivid blues bloom. Deep roots of bass crawl through the earth beneath the record, anchoring each organism. The only essential consistency between the tracks is a refusal to sit still.

The constant liminality of Mutant is hard to pin down; something seen out of the corner of one’s eye that has moved elsewhere in the time it takes to bring it into focus.

Mutant tracklisting:
Alive
Mutant
Vanity
Sinner
Anger
Sever
Beacon
Snakes
Else
Umbilical
Hymn
Front Load
Gratitude
EN
Siren
Extent
Enveloped
Faggot
Soichiro
Peonies

Watch the video for Soichiro here.

Video: Arca – Soichiro

Venezuelan producer Arca has just shared a video for ‘Soichiro’, a track from Alejandro Ghersi’s upcoming album, Mutant. This video clip plunges into darkness after two minutes.. According to Arca, the track is titled after the middle name of filmmaker, artist, and frequent Arca collaborator Jesse Kanda.

Video: Arca – Sad Bitch

See Arca’s ‘Sad Bitch’ video Video by Jesse Kanda. The track is featured on Arca’s debut Xen and the brand new ‘Xen (????? Edition)’, out now.

Video: Kelela – A Message (prod. by Arca)

Kelela announces “Hallucinogen EP”, out on May 5th 2015. Watch “A Message” video, directed by Daniel Sannwald.

The HALLUCINOGEN EP is a 6-song cycle that explores the light and darkness of love and sexuality. Written over the course of two years it takes the listener through different stages of relationship, ranging from tumultuous to blissful.

HALLUCINOGEN EP is music to ride out to, whether you’re sitting on 44s or a bench seat on London’s tube. The production is distinctly American, but as before, borrows freely from the icy sounds of UK Grime. The EP was born out of recording sessions over the last two years, songs intended for the debut album that found a natural synergy with one another. HALLUCINOGEN is a bridge between her debut Cut 4 Me, and Kelela’s debut album due this Autumn.

about A Message:

“I met Alejandro [Arca] on a boat in August of 2012. We sought one another out across a dance floor and within 5 minutes agreed to meet each other as soon as possible to collaborate. I had one song released to my name and had just heard one of his mixes, but we knew we’d found something in one another. We spent the next three days, 14 hours a day talking about our artistic visions and how it intersected with our personal lives, making songs that reflected that while dancing around the room to let it all out. About 5 or 6 demos were born out of these three days.

“A Message” is one of the demos that came from those sessions and it speaks to the despair that I was experiencing at the time. The initial version of the song spilled out of us in about 25 minutes. Since then, it’s been like a sculpture that I’ve come to and refined over time, adding a lyric here, refining a melody there, adding a bridge, etc. It’s a process that is now finally complete with its release and I’m so happy that I finally get to share it with all of you.”

Tracklist:
1. A Message
2. Gomenasai
3. Swoop
4. All The Way Down
5. Hallucinogen
6. The High

Arca – Sheep

On January 14th 2015, Arca gave an exclusive live performance to soundtrack Hood By Air’s show as special guests at the Pitti Uomo 87 fashion event in Florence, Italy. At the event, Arca performed a bespoke musical score titled ‘Sheep’ which featured eleven tracks of original Arca music. ‘Sheep’ is now available as a free download exclusively via Arca’s Soundcloud here.

‘Sheep (Hood By Air FW15)’ tracklist:
1. Mothered
2. Pity
3. Drowning
4. En
5. Faggot
6. Submissive
7. Umbilical
8. Hymn
9. Don’t / Else
10. At Last I Am Free (interlude)
11. Immortal

The performance and download follow the recent success of Arca’s debut album Xen, which was released in November 2014 on Mute to widespread acclaim. Xen was one of 2014’s defining debut records.

Björk – Vulnicura LP

Björk will release her new album, entitled “Vulnicura,” in March 2015. She’s also shared the album’s nine-song tracklist via a hand written note [pictured below]. Two songs were co-written with Arca and one with John Flynn. Six songs were produced by Björk and Arca, two were produced by Björk herself. and one by The Haxan Cloak.

Video: Arca – Xen

Arca‘s ongoing collaboration with Jesse Kanda continues with this strobing video of “Xen”, the title track of the Venezuelan producer’s excellent debut album, which is out now on Mute. Arca is currently co-producing the next Bjork album.

Video: Arca – Now You Know

To mark the release of his highly anticipated debut album Xen (out today on Mute), Arca has revealed a new collaboration with Jesse Kanda. The stunning visual is soundtracked by Xen album opener ‘Now You Know’ and is the latest in a long line of collaborations between Arca and Kanda.

Meanwhile. Arca is set to play a series of European tour dates this year, including a UK show at London’s ICA on 27th November. The shows will be a further development of Arca’s relationship with Kanda, who first joined Arca live for a visual interpretation of &&&&& at New York’s MoMA PS1 in 2013 and will accompany him at all of the shows.

ARCA TOUR DATES
27th November – ICA, London
28th November – Rotonde, Brussels
1st December – Point Ephemere, Paris
4th December – OT301, Amsterdam
5th December – Kantine/Berghain, Berlin