The contrast within Arca’s music is nothing short of spectacular.
If you’re unfamiliar with the 25-year-old Venezuelan producer, the crisp and sharply abrasive quality of his music is likely to leave you feeling shell-shocked when you hit play. Yet repeated listens reveal a subtle beauty, as an appreciation is gained for the thoughtful placement of delicate notes within the cacophony of industrial sounds.
In spite of its juxtaposition of heavy and soft sounds, Arca’s music never sounds too busy; if anything it has a paradoxically minimalist sound. As a previous review pointed out, he is a master at utilizing the empty space between notes. These brief moments of silence not only add emphasis to the sounds that follow but also prevent the track from sounding too cluttered. In an era where remixes get remixed and trap layers routinely get thrown on top of pretty much everything, Arca is refreshing for his ability to craft music that is complex but never overindulgent.
Arca gained recognition as a result of his co-production work on critically heralded LPs from Bjork, Kanye and FKA Twigs. His debut solo LP Xen, released in 2014, further cemented his status as one of the most cutting-edge contemporary electronic producers. More importantly, Xen was a cohesive project with a distinct artistic vision and its conglomerate of unfamiliar sounds begged the question of whether we were witnessing the tip of the iceberg in relation to his artistic potential. If recent releases "Vanity," "Washed Clean" and now "Soichiro" are a good indication of future output, then the answer is clearly yes.
Arca's sophomore LP Mutant is scheduled for this fall. If he’s not already on your radar, now is a good time to take notice.
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