We’re still buzzing from the mind-warping experience that is Xen, the album our favorite alchemist and producer Arca released last year. So of course, when news came that he was working on a follow up to be titled Mutant, our hearts raced and our mouths watered at the prospect of more transcendent music from Alejandro Ghersi. Now we have something to savor before we get the whole album, since Arca just shared a new song with an accompanying video.
“Soichiro” is visual collaborator Jesse Kanda’s middle name, and it’s everything you expect from a brand new Arca track. Surreal synthesizers, percussive effects, abstract musical themes that weave in and out of the track, and a falling-through-a-trap-door psychedelic ambiance. Since Xen, Ghersi has refined his delivery, focusing the sounds to be more lethal, sharp, and better sculpted, or at least that’s what “Soichiro” hints.
The video is something that might not surprise anybody who’s familiar with his past work, but will probably freak out many occasional viewers not familiar with this aesthetic. “Soichiro” stars a topless young man bathed in blue light, whose skin and muscles twitch with uncontrollable urgency. It manages to be beautiful and a little grotesque at the same time.
Ghersi remains in control of the wheel, heading to where his heart and ears are guiding him. He’s just stepping a little harder on the gas. We can’t wait for Mutant, which will be released this fall.