Arca Delivers Lead 'KiCk i' Single "Nonbinary"

Arca has premiered the first single from her forthcoming album, KiCk i. Titled “Nonbinary,” the new track arrives alongside a powerful visual that gives audiences a look at the transformation Arca has undergone since her critically-acclaimed self-titled album from 2017.

Speaking with Paper Magazine about the track earlier this year, Arca noted that the track was about speaking “for your self-states.” She continued, “I’m asking for recognition that we have multiple selves without denying that there’s a singular unit […] I want to be seen as an ecosystem of minor self-states without being stripped of the dignity of being a whole.”

The track itself is a unique departure from the unearthly sound many fans have come to know her for. Rather than solely dipping into the brash industrial aesthetic she explored on her recent 60-minute track “@@@@@” as well as her previous three albums Xen, Mutant, and Arca, the track walks a fine line between the worlds of pop and experimental. On the first half of the track, she relishes in some entrancing downtempo flair, offering up some confrontational vocals that reflect her own thoughts on being nonbinary. On the latter half, she resorts to her signature thundering production, erupting into the track’s climax as she delivers some entrancing, dystopian vocal melodies.

In the Frederik Heyman-directed music video, Arca transforms into a cybernetic creation, strapped to a robotic operating table as she undergoes her transformation, with the latter half epitomizing the track’s confrontational underpinnings.

Watch the visual for “Nonbinary” above.

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