Revolutionary, contemporary, Venezuelan producer Arca comes through with a record recorded from the deepest labyrinths of identity and solace.

“You jump off a cliff because you know that when you land, and you crash like a bunch of Legos and you fall apart, you‰’ll pick up the pieces that are left of you. But you don‰’t reattach the ones that are not useful to you, that don‰’t feel like they‰’re you. Every time you jump, you have this opportunity—this really beautiful, fertile, uncomfortable period—where you‰’re not whole, but your essence is helping you attach things onto you, things that inspire you, things that you think are full of life.‰” ‰ÛÒArca

Alejandro Ghersi has come a long way in a little bit of time. A couple years ago he was nothing more than a blip of sporadic EPs. In 2014, Ghersi has worked with names like Kanye West and FKA twigs, while also releasing a critically acclaimed mixtape, &&&&&, which displayed a massive fluency for not only the ability to creatively manipulate samples, but displayed the mindset of a contemporary and eccentric producer, in some ways ahead of his time. This year, Arca follows up with what his debut full-length album, Xen.

The album is named for Ghersi‰’s bizarre, outgoing, gender-fluid alter-ego. More than anything, this album is about Ghersi‰’s own identity. Coming to terms with his sexuality in Venezuela, creating a name for himself in music, trying to keep a hold on a sense of self, these are the things that are expounded upon over the course of Xen. Unfortunately, this often makes the album much less accessible than previous Arca work. The sounds are abrasive to say the least. Sometimes this works in the album‰’s favor, on tracks like Sad Bitch or Family Violence, but at many points the chaos of the drums and synths and the pitch shifts especially make the songs feel half-baked. Lonely Thugg and Wound bring the complexity of emotion that sample-heavy tunes from older releases such as Anaesthetic and DM True off of &&&&&, but they are fewer and farther between. With Xen, Arca has taken an already defined voice and turned it on its head. If Xen did have a voice, it seems to be saying “this is only the beginning.‰Û

RIYL: Burial, Clark, Oneohtrix Point Never
Recommended: 4, 6, 9, 10, 12