Arca: KiCK i | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- In her newest full length record KiCK i, enigmatic Venezuelan producer Arca expands her sound outwards, pushing past limits that existed in her previous work. Though the songs across KiCK i feature much more structure than her breakthrough Stretch EP and preceding, self-titled album, KiCK i is Arca at her most experimental yet: a deep delve into the metallic, alien-like, nonbinary forces that have shaped one of the previous decade’s best producers. From the record’s artwork alone - presenting Arca as if she is an android from Westworld or a futuristic villain from Mad Max: Fury Road; it’s evident that this is not unlike anything you’ve ever heard before, it’s the future of music.

Preluded by a sixty-one minute long single @@@@@, KiCK i embraces production that is both overwhelmingly furious and relentlessly introspective, as if Arca is attempting to create art that is impenetrable to the unordained. Album opener Nonbinary employs metallic bass, drowned out percussion and aggressive lyrics that speak to Arca’s experience as a non-binary, transwoman. Nonbinary is as much a statement about Arca’s life as it is about those who criticise and pick apart her experience; as she sings “Ask me about my luck / Yeah, I’ve been lucky and I’ve been unlucky”, it’s evident that anyone commenting on her success should read the room.

With collaborations ranging from flamenco-trap hybrid Rosalia, experimental producer SOPHIE, London based DJ Shygirl and even Bjork, KiCK i is the first time that Arca has invited others into her solo recordings, yet these collaborations fit perfectly. KLK featuring Rosalia transforms intense, siren-like production into distorted sonic textures that fade and distort as she raps in Spanish. La Chiqui which features distinctly SOPHIE production, is one of the record’s most challenging tracks, as Arca’s ethereal vocals gravitate around a howling soundscape which pairs crushing bass with auto-tuned lyrics that tear themselves apart.

Across her newest record, Arca traverses a minefield of production that self-implodes as you listen, with haunting ambient soundscapes and twisting and menacing noises. KiCK i may sound impossibly inaccessible and impenetrably singular, but I’m willing to bet that for Arca, it’s the closest music to herself that she has ever created.

- Sean Tayler.