''Kick IIIII'' (stylized as ''kiCK iiiii'') is the eighth studio album by Venezuelan record producer and singer Arca. The album was surprise released on 3 December 2021 as the fifth and final entry in the ''Kick'' quintet. The album was released with no singles or prior announcement.

Background

Upon the release of ''

Kick I ''Kick I'' (stylized as ''KiCk i''; pronounced "kick one") is the fourth studio album by Venezuelan electronic record producer Arca. Recorded between Barcelona and London, the album was released on 26 June 2020 through XL Recordings. ''Kick I'' ...

'', news surfaced that Arca would be releasing two more ''Kick'' albums to make a trilogy. The artist took to ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' to say: "There will be four volumes. The third one is a little bit more introverted than ''Kick I'', a little bit more like my self-titled album, I guess. The fourth one is

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

only, no vocals. Right now, the least defined one, strangely, is the third one. It's all gestating right now ..Each ''Kick'' exists in a kind of

quantum state In quantum physics, a quantum state is a mathematical entity that provides a probability distribution for the outcomes of each possible measurement on a system. Knowledge of the quantum state together with the rules for the system's evolution in ...

until the day that I send it to mastering. I try to not commit until I have to. But I have a vision for it. The second one is heavy on backbeats, vocal manipulation,

mania Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a mental and behavioral disorder defined as a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level, or "a state of heightened overall activation with enhanced affective expression together wit ...

, and craziness." ''Kick IIIII'' would end up being similar to Arca's previous description of the fourth entry, focusing entirely on quieter ambient pieces, focused mainly on piano, plucked

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

and swirling pads. Famed Japanese composer

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

makes a guest vocal appearance on "Sanctuary".

Critical reception

On review aggregate site

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, ''Kick IIIII'' received a score of 77 out of 100, based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Track listing

Sample credits * "Sanctuary" contains samples of previous Arca tracks: "Ave María", "Gestation" & "La Exorcista" Interpolates * "Sanctuary" contains interpolation of previous Arca tracks: "Construct", "Diva" & "Alien Inside" * "Fireprayer" contains interpolation of " Fire Meet Gasoline" by

Sia Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

References

{{Arca Arca (musician) albums 2021 albums Surprise albums XL Recordings albums Albums produced by Arca (musician) Ambient albums Contemporary classical music albums Electroacoustic music albums Sequel albums