Arca

WOW! Incredible, haunting lyrical electronic music. Inspired by the folk “tonadas” of his Venezuelan heritage and his recent work with Bjork, Alejandro Ghersi aka Arca brings his own voice centerstage on this masterful 3rd LP. Entirely in Spanish, Ghersi sings of tragic, wrenching loss and love influenced by his sexuality and religion. His soaring vibrato is incredibly affecting especially paired with his beautiful piano and synth work. It wanders, it writhes, it wallows, it whithers. Arca’s music does it all, and there’s even a danceable track or two in there. All of it is excellent
Genre: Experimental Pop, Unclassifiably Beautiful Sounds
RIYL: Bjork, FKA Twigs, Jesse Lanza, Oneohtrix Point Never
FCCs: No (in Spanish)
Favorite Tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 11

Piel (4:08)* - slow, spooky, falsetto with searing electronic tones filling space, “remove my skin”
Anoche (3:37)* - slow piano, tragic song of love lost “last night I dreamt of our simultaneous death”, some small peaks into arca’s sound engineering prowess, interesting shifting percussion
Saunter (2:09) - the return of Arca’s haunted harpsichord (see Gratitude),
Urchin (4:00) - more “traditional Arca” if there is something like that, alyrical, awesome!! Thumping bass, distant piano, punishing synths
Reverie (3:13)** - most balanced track, haunting vocals, electric guitars, big percussion, warped soaring vibrato, anguished lyrics of forbidden love
Castration (3:21)* - more industrial, upbeat, more danceable beats, distressed techno, pummeling
Sin Rumbo (3:36) - slow, another song of lost love, tense, glitchy toward the end
Coraje (4:32) - more uplifting tones, a hopeful break up song, plodding
Whip (1:21) - whip samples, alyrical, experiment, visceral, brutal, evoking flagellation
Desafío (3:53)* - serious pop appeal here, almost a synth pop track, really surprising, also interesting dissonance between the more cheerful sonic scape and the tragic lyrics of forbidden love and bdsm
Fugaces (3:07)* - beautiful song, again some synth pop ballad sensibilities here, largely beatless, but serene
Miel (2:56) - slower, sadder, twinkling piano backed by huge bass rising in the distance
Child (3:23) - skittering pianos, skittering synths, dramatic, uneasy