- Of the few things that Australian producer and singer-songwriter Kučka has wrestled with in a decade-long career so far is striking a sound for her solo music. As a vocalist and producer, she’s collaborated extensively with Flume and worked with Vince Staples, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, and even the late SOPHIE. Her highly anticipated debut album Wresting is a tranquil, yet kinetic homage to the many genres and innovative projects she’s explored.
Long before her work on Wrestling began, Kučka kicked off her foray into music with an experimental self-titled EP that presented a hybrid of the mathematical IDM of The Aphex Twin, trip-hop of early FKA twigs, and the naturalistic, insect like sounds you’d expect to hear from an ambient field recording. These sounds only grew in diversity when she joined forces with the aforementioned collaborators on Vince Staples’ Yeah Right and Flume’s Hyperreal.
As her influences and experiences grew more diverse, her own collaged soundscapes have grown richer. Contemplation, this album’s bold opener, features pitched up synths and bass that transform Kučka’s lyrics -about defying anxiety and breaching seemingly impenetrable expectations- into an immaterial state. Ascension slows down Kučka’s energy as she reflects on losing control and taking flight without fear, “when you start to ascend, don’t imagine the fall.”
The earthy weight and opposing ethereal freedom in her production recalls that of Holly Herndon, who programmed an AI to produce parts of her album PROTO. Though Kučka meticulously crafted her album, both records feature soundscapes that feel natural, as if they could exist as an overture to a land undiscovered.
Sky Brown fleshes out the more experimental, hip-hop production Kučka has previously contributed to rappers, creating a hybrid of Wrestling’s glowing ambient chamber pop. The Flume co-produced Drowning is another highly alchemical element of Kučka’s debut. Together, they transform their dissected sampling style to fit the record, creating a track that feels elemental and bold. Eternity, which Kučka credits as her most important song to date, is introspective as she shifts her focus from the natural world into spiritual unity and faith.
While most of the songs across Wrestling share similar production, they sound distinct as they draw from Kučka’s unconventional road to success. Not many Australian producers would wait a decade into their career to drop a debut, but in taking her time, Kučka has grown her sound with care, much like the ecosystem her production resembles.
- Sean Tayler.