Kick IIII

## Singles

1. "Queer"
Released: November 18, 2021

"**Kick IIII**" (stylized as "**kick iiii**", pronounced Kick Four) is the seventh studio album by Venezuelan record producer and singer Arca. It was released on December 2, 2021, through XL Recordings as the fourth installment in the *Kick* series and was supported by the lead single "Queer".

## Background

Arca shared “Queer,” a song from the album that features Planningtorock; the other collaborators on the album include Oliver Coates, No Bra, and Shirley Manson. Planningtorock called their collaboration a “gorgeous epic universe of a track, a queer dream come true.” It’ll be the fourth cut on the project, which Arca describes as “an entry of sensual charge in the cycle; my own faith made into song, a posthuman celestial sparkle, psychosexual pulse-width modulation, queering the void,” and it’ll see her close the *Kick* series with a new style of xenopop.

On Instagram, Arca wrote:

## Style

Compared to the strutting reggaetón of KICK ii and the demonic club experiments of KicK iii, kick iiii captures Arca at her most serene. “Whoresong” opens us up with one of the last experimental songs we’ll hear on the album. “Esuna” curls up like a kitten in the soft swirls of Oliver Coates’ strings. But serenity is not the same as docility; the crooning “Xenomorphgirl” is a kind of cyborg lullabyand kick iiii also features some of Arca’s most coolly triumphant work to date. On the self-empowerment anthem “Queer,” Planningtorock testifies to their “tears of power.” “Witch” is a frail song with barely holding on with a piano, vocals with Arca and German musician No Bra, and slowed down bass. But it’s lyrics are way deeper; solely being about cruel, and injustice assaults transwomen have suffered throughout history. “Hija” and “Boquifloja” (which roughly translates to “loose mouth” in Venezuela/Colombian slang) are a departure from Arca’s regular sound, with both tracks having guitar played by Arca. While on “Alien Inside,” Garbage’s Shirley Manson solemnly intones the virtues of Arca’s self-proclaimed “mutant faith” over a shimmering shoegaze backdrop. “Altar” is about losing someone you love and asking if they still love, with the beginning lyric; “After all, do you still love me?”, and which barely and instruments on the track, “Altar” can be considered a only lyrical track. Most affecting of all is Arca’s own proclamation on “Lost Woman Found”: “I’ve been walking toward the light for years now/And it’s the first time I feel the sun’s warmth on my skin, now that it’s my own/A lost woman, found.” The quest for one’s true identity has long been at the center of Arca’s work, and here at the heart of her sprawling, futuristic bildungsroman, she channels years of trauma into something like peace. “Paw” is about reuniting with her love, but not putting all of it into them, but to her too. With the lyrics “When you want warmth/I want warmth too”, with unsteady beats; she is returning to her self-titled era.

## Outtakes

### Key

* **Bold** typing indicates that the song has been officially released
* *Italic* typing indicates that the song was never released and has yet to leak fully online.
* Underlined typing indicates that the song, snippets of the song, or lyrics have been leaked/posted/performed at some point, but not in studio quality.

### List

* "**Cayó**"
* "About Her"