Score: 6.5/10
Arca are a small collective of musicians, the core of which are duo Joan Cambon and Sylvain Chauveau. Formed in 2000, seven years later they are releasing their third album, On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes, on Ici D'Ailleurs, which boasts releases from artists such as Dominique Petitgand and Yann Tiersen. In the company of such notable composers, Arca’s sound has developed into a vast sea of vocals, samples, and instrumentation, allowing them to create songs that convey their view of life and society.
Sylvain Chauveu has the role of vocalist in Arca, and for the most part, vocals are a strange feature. At their peak, the vocal effort allows Arca to sound reminiscent of a skewed, samples-friendly Bill Callahan. “Laced by the night” is a distinct example of their lyrical craft working well alongside the instrumentation. Perhaps one of the most important songs on Arca’s effort at seven tracks in, the song falls in a territory between Low and Smog, but doesn’t allow itself to be musically constrained by either. Yet, Arca’s lyrics are also the main proponent of their weakest points on the record. Weary and uninvolved, “Lonesome witness of her nudity” stumbles to find its footing in the album. Arca cite literature and film as part of their inspiration and it’s clear “Lonesome witness” was intended to mirror stream of consciousness writing. However, instead of becoming Joyceian shoe-gaze heroes, Arca sound disturbingly like they’re reading an erotic Mills & Boon novel aloud.
Having received relatively positive reviews for their previous two albums, Arca had the task of approaching their third release and singling out what they feel works and quite simply, what doesn’t. On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes gives the distinct impression that Cambon and Chauveau are trying to cover as much musical ground as possible. Arca include wholly instrumental creations such as “On discernait un visage,” which, although a favourable effort, I’d hazard the guess that it’s included to suggest to the listener that they’re still capable of writing instrumental and commanding soundscapes. The openness of their sound doesn’t prove to be a negative point of the record. “Sunday negative” has such beautiful instrumentation that the song soon becomes a journey and could quickly become the soundtrack to a melancholic dream. Amongst jewels, there are some sporadically placed fillers. The albums closing track “Probléme ici / maybe London” is, to be blunt, pointless. Using the same pan effects as Set Fire to Flames album opener “I will be True,” “Probléme ici…” leaves the album with an air of ambiguity, a brave idea but perhaps not the most appropriate one when the record itself slips too often between gems and junk.
When the album has reached its final destination, and you’re left wondering where Arca are going to go next, don’t expect to find yourself in a strange new land, instead place more emphasis on the journey that’s just taken place. Approach On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes as a listener not looking for an epic soundtrack that Clint Mansell would be proud of, but instead, the soundtrack to your own life, as Sylvain utters in “Laced By the Night”: “this is for you.”
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