Written Before Listen
God….at the end of the year, Electronic producer Arca decided to drop 4 albums in continuation of her Kick series, which means I have to review 5 albums. Here is the fifth and final one. Arca is a producer I know little about. I know she did work with people like Kanye and Bjork and she is a pioneer in the Latin Electronic scene. With that out of the way, this is low-key my first time listening to Arca in-depth, so without further ado, let’s get into this.
Production
Arca takes the minimal approach on this one. Rarely any drums and to that extent, rarely any instruments. This album mainly consists of piano, synthesizers, and the occasional strings. There are also some slight industrial undertones surrounding this album which gives a lot of these tracks life. I’ve yet to hear Arca in this direction before this, but I love it.
Genre-Bending
This album is probably the most eclectic so far. The track “Ether” is a full-on Ambient classical piece that is beautiful in every way. It’s also more suspenseful than most tracks on this album too. The track “Amber” is a meditative piece of Progressive electronic and I’m glad to hear Arca venture in this direction. “Musculos” has to be my favorite track on this thing because of how outspoken it is compared to the other tracks, Not in lyrics or anything but in standout quality. It’s the longest track and also the most attention-grabbing. The last track is where the “climax” is on this album as “Crown” could’ve fit perfectly on the original KiCk. It’s noisy but at the same time, it doesn’t shy away from the aesthetic of this album. Overall, I’d say Arca should venture into these styles more in the future.
Influences
Once again, Arca uses influences to the best of her abilities. Instead of taking from artists like Death Grips and SOPHIE, she takes from the mellow side of Electronic music. Oneohtrix Point Never comes to mind, Aphex Twin comes to mind and of course, Bjork comes to mind. I also see some Ambient worship as people like William Basinski and Brian Eno were probably in mind. I’m glad she took from these artists, as Arca creates on really meditative album
Comparison To The Other Kicks
Remember when I said Kick iiii was the biggest outlier? Well, I was wrong. This is the biggest outlier. It wows me that the first iii kicks were as noisy as they were. If you listen to it backward, it would make no sense because of how different this is to the other 4.
Cons
Well, I would say that some of these tracks draw out. I also would say that this album is one that I’d have to be in the mood for, and I wouldn’t say being in the mood for this is common. Other than that, This album is fucking beautiful.
Verdict
Well shit, Arca amazingly finalized this series. Now I have successfully completed the series, so I will give my album rating as well as the full series rating.