Album’s website
elytra.symbios.wiki
After a five-year hiatus, Isaka returns with ‘Elytra’, a work exploring the increasingly blurred lines between organic and artificial realities. In her self-defined 'hyperbass', 'Elytra' blends low-end grit with a melodic pop sheen, morphing erratic rhythms, intricate sound design and hyperpop vocals that balance formal sensibilities and visceral club energy.
Isaka underwent the transformative experience of medical transition during her move to Berlin and this radical change emerges in the thematic exploration of Elytra.
Isaka uses insect moulting as a metaphor for the cyclical, often traumatic process of metamorphosis and the EP’s exploration of adaptation and articulation where skin is not only a boundary of the self, but also the interface for our surroundings.
Themes of evolving identity are woven not only into the music but also into the visual art, zine & custom website accompanying the release. A different character represents each of the tracks, brought to life through a deep iterative process involving collages, sketches, and an array of AI-assisted 3D imagery. Limited-edition electronic sculptures will also be produced for ‘Elytra’.
Bubbly textures and frenzied drum cuts move side-by-side with NPC inspired vocal chops in opening track Slang Overload. Made in collaboration with TRYCE over an intense three-day session in 2023, it’s a nod towards glitch-hop revival with elements of UK Bass, packed with meticulously sculpted and destroyed sounds.
In Circuit Shaker we enter metallic low-end stepper territory: celestial tripped-out highs and a driving low end. We are cohabiting with lesbian androids at a picnic. With its off-kilter grooves and tender strangeness, Circuit Shaker embodies the inherent weirdness of intimacy—the paradoxical freedom of losing yourself when the boundaries blur between who's wearing who. The track, which first began in 2018, is a footwork, house, and electro-inspired tune which transitions between two sections at 120 and 160 BPM through polyrhythmic syncopation.
Isaka and Enayet combine for the third track, NYC 2016, a wigged-out hard hitter where drums are the main character. NYC 2016 is the ultimate DJ tool—a sonic exoskeleton whose essence straddles alienation and empowerment. Forged through countless late-night sessions with Enayet between 2016 and 2017, this track embodies the raw energy of a city’s underground dance scene where jackhammer kicks and clattering snares assault the senses.
7Qubit explores dehumanization through platform capitalism and is alive with bugs and the quirks of the obsessive virtualisation of the self. Imagined through a 15/4 time signature grime beat and echoes of malfunctioning code, Isaka hints at our endangered humanity. Isaka’s vocals about missing her chatbot girlfriend are processed through AI models and auto-tune, blurring the line between the organic and the synthetic.
The final track on ‘Elytra’ takes you to the edge where all the layers fall away and what remains is the raw and unadorned self. Glittering ethereal textures are underpinned by an engulfing bass section that reverberates against the edges of the song. With its poignant melodies and delicate yet impactful percussion, Precipice is a meditation on a moment of self-realization. The track builds towards an overwhelming wall of sound before dropping into a stark sample: “Being trans… is spiritual.” Featuring quotes from Hunter Schafer’s character Jules in Euphoria, processed through an AI model trained on Isaka’s voice, this track explores the complexities of identity and self-discovery.
Mastering : Ingrid Loftsgarden, Christopher Botta (for NYC 2016)
credits
released October 18, 2024
