Arca - Madre (EP) (2021) [Official Digital Download]

Arca drops the dekunstructed club electronyx in favor of captivating church-core theatrics - think Michael Nyman x Björk, ish.

Quickly following up last year's solid "KiCk i", Arca takes an unexpected left turn here on "Madre", eschewing daaclub in favor of Catholic theatrics and classical minimalism. Teaming up with virtuoso cellist Oliver Coates, Alejandra Ghersi allows her voice to fully flourish in center stage, rising and falling with a ballerina's poise against Coates' haunted slides. Title track 'Madre' clocks in at almost ten melancholy minutes, heaving with arthouse charm and sounding like the soundtrack to a queer period drama centered around the Spanish Inquisition. It's delicate, erotic and morose, glistening like sweaty, naked flesh in candlelight or a tear-sodden rag at the bedside.

'Madre' is joined by 'Madreviolo', a companion piece that loses Coates' ethereal strings and replaces them with eerie staccato plucks. We're then treated to an acapella and instrumental version, which oddly each work well on their own, complimenting the original's stark minimalism. Ghersi has been teasing this level of sensual, operatic bombast for ages now, not least in her ongoing creative relationship with Björk, but on "Madre" she makes a bold, assertive move that transcends her influences. Really good this.

Tracklist
1. Madre (feat. Oliver Coates) (09:00)
2. Madreviolo (07:09)
3. Madre Acapella (08:53)
4. Violo (07:07)