Back in February when Arca teased his upcoming third full-length album Reverie, Mutant had only been out for three months. It’s not that he hasn’t been busy as of late: he completed a full Wench LP, his collaborative project with Hood By Air’s Shayne Oliver, and is reportedly back on production duties alongside Björk for her Vulnicura follow-up.
But what no one was expecting was the release of a brand new 25-minute mixtape titled Entrañas, announced less than 24 hours ago as he shared the Jesse Kanda-directed video for his new track “Sin Rumbo.” But this is 2016, and surprise releases have sort of become the new normal – we’re looking at you Beyoncé, Drake, James Blake, and basically everyone – so, the best thing to do is to shower yourself in some free Arca greatness. But beware: this might feel more like acid rain.
Entrañas is presented in the same fashion as his &&&&& mixtape, which came out three years ago, and the music included is equally tough to swallow. It starts eerily with the distorted landscapes of “Pérdida,” right before diving head first to the unsettling noise track “Torero” and “Culebra” and its merciless, machine-gun industrial beat. Alejandro Ghersi hadn’t featured any guests on his own productions up until now, but this time around he tapped like-minded producers Total Freedom and Massacooraman, and British artist and composer Mica Levi. The latter provided her scoring talents to apocalyptic, Cocteau Twins-sampling track “Baby Doll” and the abrasive dance number “Think Of,” providing some serious string tension.
On a clever little interlude called “Cement Garden,” the Venezuelan producer samples the same Charlotte Gainsbourg lines from the movie The Cement Garden as Madonna did on “What It Feels Like for A Girl,” but it fits his music a lot better. A standout moment here is “Pargo,” where he spits Venezuelan homophobic slurs, like “parchita,” “marico,” and “pargo,” as stabs of metallic sound hit like those words hit their victims. And that’s not the only time Arca’s voice appears; closing track “Sin Rumbo” is a raw and heartfelt ballad with minimalistic production sung entirely in Spanish by Ghersi himself. By the time he hits those high highs, you’ll be getting goosebumps.
Download Entrañas for free here, and expect Reverie later this year.