Take some time out, put on the headphones, drop the needle on the record, or queue up the latest releases on your phone.
Here’s four recently released albums that we’ve been playing at OUTinPerth HQ, new records from Arca, O’Flynn, Hayla, and The Durutti Column.
ARCA
XXXXX
★ ★ ★ ★
Arca’s ninth album has arrived and, as always, it’s a sonic journey filled with beats, challenging sounds, and a unique aural assault. This is the first music Arca has released since the fourth installment of her Kick series arrived in 2021. She recently appeared in the credits for Madonna’s upcoming Confessions II album and made a cameo in the Danceteria video.
We begin with No End, a short track filled with spooky sounds and whispers, before dropping into Willow, which slowly builds a mix of atmospherics, 1980s video-game sounds, and crushing synth stabs. Eidolon combines fast beats, warped vocals, and squelchy bursts of acid house. One section expands into a choral refrain, while another develops into an electronically controlled cacophony.
Things become even more twisted and intense on Heart. By the time we reach Syncope, I’m thinking this is what raves might sound like if aliens landed and took over the DJ booth.
The journey continues with Raver and then Cinch, where a spoken-word passage changes the album’s trajectory once again. When FXck arrives, it’s the closest thing to a traditional song on the record, and it’s an absolute banger. It also sets up the album’s more accessible second half.
Finisher features fractured beats and an electronic symphony, filled with swirling and diving violins. Taconeando is packed with rapid-fire chants and layered vocals that create a hypnotic effect, which then gives way to Futurality.
Then comes the brilliant Grip, which blends laser-like sounds with plucked strings. The momentum continues to build through Throb and Everything, bringing the album to a powerful conclusion.
O’Flynn
Kaiross
★ ★ ★ ★
London-based electronic producer O’Flynn returns with his third album, offering a genre-blending collection held together by samples and field recordings. While O’Flynn takes listeners in many different musical directions, most of those roads eventually lead to the dancefloor.
After gently easing us in with the title track, which blends beats, strummed guitars and scrambled electronica, the album dives into the Moby-esque combination of downtempo grooves and gospel influences found on Faith in You.
Fara explores global musical influences through layered percussion and African-inspired rhythms, while adding a bold dash of disco. Falling continues the dancefloor momentum with another crisp disco groove, while Sekete shifts the focus back towards internationally influenced rhythms.
Obey combines uplifting, euphoric techno with a repeated vocal sample and touches of dubstep, while Ashiko is a dancefloor-filling highlight. I Just recalls the atmospheric style of Deep Forest and begins a section of the album that leans more heavily into ambient pop across Kelsier, Aster and Lhamo of Paro.
The respite is brief. Srekye brings back the beats and lasers, while Kola returns to a more downtempo mood. The closing track, Can I Hold You, is a captivating piece built around a vocal sample that gradually blossoms into a blissed-out finale, bringing the album’s journey to a satisfying close.
Hayla
Dark
★ ★ ★
Operatic, soulful and sophisticated, Hayla’s second album sees her pivot away from the dancefloor and towards a sound that is sparser, more dramatic and undeniably bold.
Heal dives straight into the drama, pairing soaring vocals with dramatic piano accompaniment in a song that feels both pleading and earnest. Things get darker, bluesier, more intense and more electronic on I Don’t Believe It Anymore, while Still briefly mellows the mood.
The title track is an emotional plea from someone carrying the weight of a broken relationship. While the song is undeniably epic, it can also feel somewhat predictable. Tear Me Down, Enough and Fear follow, showcasing clear vocals and arrangements rich with emotional depth. This is music that sits somewhere between Portishead and Adele.
The album’s highlight is the closing track, I Just Hope We Don’t Run Out of Time. It is a heady blend of symphonic instrumentation, emotional vulnerability and a lingering sense of urgency. As the final song on the album, its concern that time may be running out carries additional weight. In its closing moments, the track erupts into a wall of sound, transforming into a thrilling and bombastic finale.
The Durutti Column
Renascent
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
British post-punk band The Durutti Column have released their 28th album, their first new music in more than 15 years. It arrives at a time of renewed interest in their work from artists including Yung Lean, Frank Ocean, Harry Styles and Blood Orange.
This mix of symphonic electronic atmospherics, wandering guitars and repetitive melodies is reminiscent of The Orb at their most chilled out and Pink Floyd at their most dreamy.
Listeners are gently eased in with a trio of instrumental tracks, Echoes in the Morning, Your Shadow at Morning and Time Present and Past. The beginning of the fourth song, Agonistes, takes us out of dreams of pastoral landscapes and back into an urban setting with the sounds of busy streets, more intense music and ethereal vocals from Caoifhionn Rose.
Slowly, the album moves into a more cohesive sound with drums, vocals and dubbed-out shoegaze guitars, while retaining the dreamy atmosphere built over the previous tracks. We’re seven tracks in before things really start to rock on Your Shadow at Evening, which continues the album’s clear sense of progression.
Sargasso Sea is the second track featuring Caoifhionn Rose, and is both folky and melancholy. Scammer, one of the album’s singles, features a rambling, almost spoken-word vocal from band leader Vini Reilly and carries a carnival-like quality. For Friends Everywhere is rich and uplifting, while the closing track, All They See Is Fire, combines jangly guitars, space-jazz brass and a guest vocal from Lucas Elliot.
This album is slick, chilled and sublime.
