UK producer and vocalist aya (who previously released music as LOFT) has announced her debut album: it’s called im hole and arrives on October 22 through Hyperdub. She has also shared the single “Emley Lights Us Moor”, featuring Iceboy Violet (whom we recently heard in excellent form on Loraine James’ “We’re Building Something New”).
Swerving the hammering beats of her previous output, aya has crafted a truly beguiling piece in “Emley Lights Us Moor”, a skin-prickling, hair-raising piece of atmospheric techno that accentuates the metamorphosis at play in the words. While aya seems to want to remain lyrically inscrutable, her voice a barely-audible whisper, you want to lean in and pick out the myriad of choice images in her verse that seem to reflect on her actualisation of her true, trans self.
Contrasting her gasping bars comes Iceboy, whose warm make an interesting juxtaposition again the icy production, and is just as magnetic as aya as they rap about “Deity insatiable / Wasn’t sold on the deal went cold / Wants veal and liquid gold.” We might never quite grasp the meaning – there probably isn’t a single one, but a multitude – but you’ll want to keep “Emley Lights Us Moor” on repeat nonetheless.
Watch the visual below or listen to “Emley Lights Us Moor” on streaming platforms.
aya’s debut album im hole comes out on October 22 through Hyperdub (pre-order/save). You can find her on Twitter and Instagram.
