Australian Experimental Artist Uboa Releases Impossible Light
The album is out now digitally, available on LP/CS November 1st.
Uboa photo by Frankie Pan | Hi-res here
Uboa’s surprise-drop fifth album Impossible Light almost never made it out of the dark. From its initial conception in 2018, this record went to hell and back, dragging its immensity and too-big-to-hold emotion through the torturous process of translation to sound and returned triumphantly as a full-bodied record in a distinct new style.
Impossible Light begins where Uboa's 2019 breakout album The Origin of My Depression left off — and ends somewhere entirely different. The Origin stunned with its methodical use of doom, harsh noise, and ambient soundscapes while documenting a raw, unhindered account of Xandra Metcalfe’s experiences with her transition and her struggles with mental health. Over time The Origin steadily grew a cult-like following which developed into a full-fledged internet community focused around noise, neurodiversity and transness. While Uboa’s signature style of highly polished, cinematic ‘hypernoise' is front and center in Impossible Light, there is also a daring departure into the genres of industrial metal/rock, setting it apart from any other Uboa release thus far and distinguishing it from other contemporary noise records.
Metcalfe kept the lyrical content of this record as a time capsule of the catastrophic ups and downs and rapidly changing environments within herself and in the world from 2018-2023. Key collaborators include Blood of a Pomegranate, Otay::onii, Charlie Looker and Haela Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy. Impossible Light dives fearlessly into queer sexuality, trans embodiment, grief for those who couldn't make it, solidarity for those facing unimaginable discrimination, the toxic spread of transphobic hatred and misinformation, and the ultimate hope of recovery from trauma and mental anguish. This is a record about the light at the end of the tunnel and the power it takes to keep moving towards it.
"My last record, 'The Origin of My Depression,' was fundamentally about hopelessness. Impossible light, on the other hand, isn’t. On the contrary, it's about the possibility of having a future." - Xandra Metcalfe
Impossible Light is out today digitally and incoming on vinyl and cassette formats on November 1, 2024 via The Flenser. Pre-order here.
Impossible Light, cover art:
Impossible Light, track listing:
- Phthalates
- Endocrine Disruptor
- A Puzzle
- Gordian Worm (Ft. Blood of a Pomegranate)
- Pattern Screamers
- Jawline
- Weaponised Dysphoria
- Sleep Hygiene
- Impossible Light / Golden Flower (Ft. Otay::onii)
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