Due to shrinking label budgets, easily downloadable technology and wide-reaching Internet platforms like SoundCloud, the distance between bedroom producers and their big-studio counterparts has never been smaller. One key beneficiary of this climate is Venezuelan-born, London-based producer Arca (real name Alejandro Ghersi), who plays solo this week. In 2012, Arca put out three EPs on the hip UNO NYC label, attracting the attention of Kanye’s camp. After assisting the rap superstar with 2013’s Yeezus, he helped out with another pair of arty pop opuses, FKA twigs’s LP1 and Björk’s Vulnicura.
But aiding these heavy hitters hasn’t prevented this producer from stepping into the spotlight. His 2013 mixtape, &&&&&, presented as one continuous track, explored more ideas in 25 minutes than many albums cover in 70.
If you’re not in the mood for an unbroken listening experience, try Arca’s official debut, Xen, which came out in November. The album takes its name from an imaginary Ghersi alter ego that collaborator Jesse Kanda—who has contributed stunning artwork to Arca’s various projects and will collaborate with his friend at the Bowery Ballroom gig—described as the producer’s “sassy, confident, very feminine side.” Tracks like “Bullet Chained” employ the hefty, pummeling textures the world first encountered on Yeezus, while “Held Apart” and “Failed” explore fragile piano balladry with a movie-score quality. Listening to the surreal, enveloping Xen, it’s easy to understand Arca’s rapid rise—he’s as much of a star as the big names that dot his résumé.—Elias Leight