Dionte Berry
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]

Electronic artist, Arca released “KicK iii” a fiery sound-saturated industrial electronic album.

Alejandra Ghersi Rodriguez, professionally known as Arca, is a Venezuelan musician who has produced songs for artists such as Kanye West, Bjork and FKA Twigs.

Arca’s “Kick” series focuses on different influences in her music such as reggaeton, experimental electronic, experimenting with vocals and instrumental tracks.

“KicK iii” was released on Dec. 1, 2021. The 12-track album focuses on a pillar of Arca’s music which sees her experimentalism at its peak with aggressive hard hitting sounds, rapping in English and Spanish with hip-hop and club influences creating a sense of organized chaos, and playfulness.

“Bruja” is an explosive start to the album where Arca starts with a spoken word rap about her sexuality and identity over a fragmented beat. By the middle of the song, the beat erupts into a hellish howling noise with wavering synths and Arca shouting in the background.

The track climaxes with a series of hard-hitting percussion bangs which fizzle out the synths.

“Incendio” starts with a sudden gunshot followed by synths and the sound of guns reloading. Arca is rapping again, but this time she is doing so at a rapid-fire pace which is the highlight of the song.

After the rapping portion, Arca returns to echoing shouts over an industrial beat, creating a siren-like effect.

In the next track, “Morbo,” Arca’s voice is autotuned to sound deeper. The beat stutters parallel with Arca’s murky vocals. The beat evolves to shroud Arca’s vocals and grows into a mostly instrumental track of zig-zagging sharp synths.

“Fiera” is a completely instrumental track that consists of large wavering synths mixed with percussion.

“Skullqueen” starts with a quick distorted clapping, quickly followed by Arca’s vocals which are pitched higher. The urgency of the song slows down towards the middle where there are synths that resemble sharp breaths.

The end half of the song is led by isolated piano keys that end the song in something reminiscent of a lullaby. “Skullqueen” feels like a contained explosion compared to some of the more volatile tracks.

“Elektra Rex” is led with clanking instrumentals and has an overall dance vibe. Arca seems to want the listener to go wild with lyrics such as, “To the beat, let your hips go,” and “Should I, blow?” which refers to blowing up.

“Ripples” contains repeating lines that could be compared to that of ripples, and it gets more intense with fast-paced instrumentals that makes a revisit to distorted club beats.

“Rubberneck” starts with a clapping percussion similar to that of “Skullqueen.” The track has a calm beginning with Arca rapping along the distorted drumming, but it erupts in the middle with a tempo change and the introduction of distorted chords and piano keys.

“Senorita” starts with a club beat with an industrial mix. Arca is rapping again, but her vocals are clear.

Arca sounds confident while she raps about sexuality. In the middle of the track, the club beats halt and grinding synths sort of takes the listener out of the song, but then a bouncing beat comes in and brings us back into the song.

The next two songs “My 2” and “Intimate Flesh” are dialed back compared to the rest of “Kick iii.” Arca’s vocals play a role in both songs, but her voice is used more so as an instrument rather than in a lyrical means.

“Joya” ends the album in a great way, feeling like a breath of relief after a challenging listen. Arca’s singing feels tender compared to the rest of “KicK iii’s” aggressive listen.

Overall, “KicK iii” is a one-of-a-kind experience. It’s explosive, hellish and boundary pushing. “KicK iii” is also a risky project because some people may find the listen challenging or uncomfortable.

I enjoy “KicK iii” and its hair-raising harshness. A big stand out to me is Arca’s rapping. I love her rapid-fire of lyrics on “Incendio” and her rapping on “Bruja” and “Senorita.”

I also enjoy how Arca experiments with her voice. In “Seniorita” her voice is at the forefront, in “Skullqueen” her voice is distorted and seems to work as an instrumental tool and in “Intimate Flesh” her voice is used more so as an instrument.

For all of the risks taken, the unique approach to electronic music, diverse and stimulating track list and overall creativity, Arca’s, “KicK iii” deserves an eight out of 10.

With the “Kick” universe seemingly at a close, I am excited to see what Arca will do next.