So far, the mythical full-length Wench album we’ve all been dreaming of hasn’t quite happened yet — but perhaps listeners who are allured by the duo’s general style (both in the fashion sense and otherwise) can find something sustaining in the self-titled Arca album that was released this year (and which made our favorites list from that quarter)?
Well, if the especially audible vocals of Alejandro Ghersi don’t do enough to engender a new, moody feeling of underground griminess, you might just have to lash around in the mud with Hood By Air purveyor Shayne Oliver, who recently did as much in one of the two brand new Wench videos just released exclusively via TIDAL. L.A.-based filmmaker Grant Singer directed both clips, and according to DAZED, Oliver’s literally harnessed thrashing was entirely his decision, as it was his “performance piece” that Singer wanted to capture “in the most visually compelling way” that he could. (I’m still thinking it could’ve used a surprise Uruk-hai unveiling. No?)
The muddy AF footage accompanies the new track, “Elmo,” while the video for “Sick” offers a visual companion to a song that was actually released more than a year ago. You can get a sense (or a total familiarity, if you’re a TIDAL member) of the “Sick” video below; but essentially, we’re dealing with a street woman embracing her gender nonconformity, despite annoying stares presumably scum fuck-y, off-camera individual…or maybe the individual is actually a figment of the made-up and possibly maniacal subject? Either way! Arca and Oliver are definitely…doing their thing.