Listen Up #8

 Since his emergence at the beginning of the decade, Alejandro Ghersi (a.k.a. Arca) has been known for his experimental music.

What made him special from the very beginning is how unpredictable his sound has been; there isn’t any consistency from one album to the next. This holds true with his latest single entitled, “Piel.” In a word, the song is overwhelming. Ghersi opens up and reveals his haunting singing voice for the first time ever which sounds like it belongs in a church or an opera. On top of this, he sings the whole song in Spanish. This clashes strangely well with the jarring bass synths throughout the song and unsettles the listener. In general, the track does a good job to excite fans for his upcoming album and raises the bar even higher.

Recently, the rock band Moon Duo released their fourth album entitled “Occult Architecture vol. 1.” The group is well known for their psychedelic rock style, complete with trippy keyboard and visual lyrics.

The seven songs on the album have a very cinematic feeling that is somewhat sinister at times when they start chanting. The cinematic swagger is best heard on tracks such as “Creepin,” which features an already used riff, but a loved one nonetheless.

The track “The Death Set,” also shares the same feelings by immediately conjuring up images of dark alleys in shady cities. Despite not really branching out and trying anything new, Moon Duo has developed a very particular sound that is clearly heard on this album, which will be sure to please fans.