# Uboa

Uboa is the musical project of the Australian drone, ambient and noise rock artist Xandra Metcalfe. She began in 2010 during a period when Metcalfe experimented with doom metal textures and home studio equipment, and gradually moved towards noise, experimental and abstract compositions.
Metcalfe has collaborated as Uboa with several other noise artists including Slumber Kitty, Muddy Lawrence, Solus Varak, teeth dreams and has produced a split EP with Bolt Gun.

## Career

Xandra Metcalfe is based in Melbourne, Australia. Uboa's debut album Sometimes Light was released in 2010, followed by Jouissance in 2013 and The Sky May Be in 2018. In 2019, she released her fourth album The Origin of My Depression, which was recorded amidst her suicide attempt via drug overdose. The album cover was taken from her point of view in a hospital bed following the attempt, which in her words, "could have been the last thing I saw before I died. Nothing glorious, but something boring and accidental." She released an EP The Flesh of the World in 2020, which Toronto-based queer publication Xtra Magazine praised for its "punchy ’80s synths, layered vocals and absolutely massive blasts of raw noise."
In February 2023, Uboa signed to San Francisco-based record label The Flenser, which released The Origin of My Depression on vinyl for the first time. She opened for Liturgy on their first Australian tour in November 2023. Uboa performed three sets at the 2024 Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, Netherlands, including the live debut of The Origin of My Depression in full. Uboa's fifth album Impossible Light was released on 28 June 2024.

## Music

In a very positive review of The Origin of My Depression by the critic Anthony Fantano, her sound was described as a "cerebral dive" into Xandra's most negative and intense feelings of being a transgender woman...via "intense feelings of abandonment...expressed through intense soundscapes...and walls of distortion", culminating in a wide expanse of styles and soundscapes. Metcalfe has said of the album's sound, "I always associated sadness in music with sparseness, barrenness and quietness. I wanted to signify empty space musically. Hence why the harsh noise is few and far between, and I think a little more effective because of all the sparseness it contrasts with". Comparing the two albums, Metcalfe has said "Originally I was worried 'The Origin of My Depression' wasn't "Uboa" enough because of how restrained and sparse it is as a record."
She describes the writing process for My Depression as having "little conscious intentionality, it was mostly an intuitive process of writing. Nothing was planned out, and a lot of the songs were improvisations refined into compositions, usually after several attempts. “Detransitioning” took countless attempts to get right, whereas “An Angel of Great and Terrible Light” came out of nowhere."
Uboa named Jenny Hval, Planning for Burial, and producers Geoff Barrow & Ben Salisbury's collaborative score for the 2018 film Annihilation as influences for The Origin of My Depression.
The name "Uboa" is taken from a name given by fans to a secret character in the 2004 video game Yume Nikki. When asked about the influence of video games on her music, Uboa stated in an interview with New Noise Magazine that "the baseline drones in “Phthalates” and “Jawline” were inspired by Nine Inch Nails’ soundtrack to the original Quake", and that she "accidentally started making music by trying to write soundtracks for [video games]."

## Personal life

Uboa's music often reflects her struggles with her transgender identity, reflected in her music via the juxtaposition of emotional ambient music and harsh white noise. In an April 2019 interview she described the sources of her mental pain as including "mistaken identity, failed relationships and inability to love, joblessness, boredom, structurelessness, psychosis...[and] anxiety." Shortly after the release of The Origin of My Depression, Metcalfe was diagnosed with autism and ADHD. She has said, "the origin of my depression was nothing other seeing myself as 'broken' for being autistic, ADHD and trans."

## Discography
### Albums

List of albums, with selected details :
| Title | Details |
| Sometimes Light | Released: December 1, 2010 Format: Digital Label: Uboa |
| Jouissance | Released: October 1, 2013 Format: Digital Label: Uboa Note: Recorded between 2011 and 2013. |
| The Sky May Be | Released: October 18, 2018 Format: Digital Label: Art As Catharsis Records |
| The Origin of My Depression | Released: February 14, 2019 Format: Digital, Vinyl (2023 Reissue) Label: Uboa |
| Impossible Light | Released: June 28, 2024 Format: Digital Label: Uboa |

### Extended plays and other releases

List of albums, with selected details :
| Title | Details |
| Coma Wall | Released: September 24, 2015 Format: Digital, Cassette Label: Void Worship Release Type: Composition |
| Hook Echo | Released: July 27, 2017 Format: Digital Label: Uboa Release Type: Composition |
| Please Get Home Safely | Released: December 23, 2017 Format: Digital Label: Uboa Release Type: Split EP with Slumberkitty |
| The Apple of Every Eye | Released: June 15, 2018 Format: Digital Label: Uboa Release Type: EP with Muddy Lawrence |
| Uboa & Bolt Gun | Released: June 4, 2019 Format: Digital Label: Uboa Release Type: Split EP with Bolt Gun |
| The Absolute | Released: July 10, 2019 Format: Digital, Cassette Label: Polar Wounds Release Type: EP with Solus Varak |
| The Flesh of the World | Released: May 20, 2020 Format: Digital Label: Uboa |
| Dead Time's Broken Arrow | Released: November 4, 2022 Format: Digital, Cassette Label: hyperchaos tapes Release Type: Spilt EP with teeth dreams |

## Awards and nominations
### Music Victoria Awards

The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| Music Victoria Awards of 2019 | Uboa (Xandra Metcalfe) | Best Experimental/Avant-Garde Act | Nominated | |
| Music Victoria Awards of 2019 | The Origin of My Depression | Best Heavy Album | Nominated | |