"the light keeps changing / still so much I don't know..."
The spinning "we're not in Kansas anymore" moody atmospheres of "Ryu" by Italo-British multidisciplinary artist (guitarist, vocalist, producer) BOOMVISION, and from their debut solo full length "Arcade", instantly pulls you into a glitchy, pulsating other world or maybe other inner world. The feeling though, is not dark but vast and beautifully dreamy, a blend of organica and electronica riding on wonderfully pushing drum work and percussive elements as a framework for BOOMVISION's truly evocative, beautiful vocal countenance. The first half moves in a steady way and then around 2 and a half minutes in, the mood tightens, gets more tense as the song sort of vacillates between ascending and imploding as it eventually begins to sprint to the finish. In the end, "Ryu" is absolutely cinematic in the way it makes you feel. I would not be surprised if it ends up on a future Netflix or Hulu binger.
BOOMVISION shares this about "Ryu":
“Ryu is a big breakup song,” they explain. “It’s a song about knowing I don’t feel this, knowing I’m going to hurt us, knowing things are not right - and therefore I’m going. In this case, the main character archetype is enough without his storyline. It creates a container for the feelings.”
As LINER NOTES (excerpted / bracketed) reveal, the album "Arcade" is [A bold and emotionally charged visual album that blends glitchy electronics, punk-rooted DIY ethos, and queer identity with themes of mythology, transformation, and protest. The record is accompanied by a 35-minute narrative film and a limited run of illustrated zines, with a vinyl edition now available to pre-order.]
[The Arcade visual album was created with a core team of collaborators from London’s queer community. Dancers Luke Vincent and Paige Baker-Carroll, known on the drag scene as Lucinda B. Hind and PMBC, devised powerful, physical performances across the film, shot in a single day with just two takes per track. Their chemistry and Paige’s subversion of traditional acrobatic roles embody Arcade’s spirit of fluidity and reimagined power. Creative producer Jess Cheetham helped shape the project into a full visual work, while longtime collaborator Jay Malhotra brought depth to the album’s production and mixing. Director and editor Jacek Zmerz captured the performances with a sharp eye and crafted the film’s distinctive aesthetic. Styling came from Louise Halswell, the founder of unisex fashion brand FUUD and costume design house Stume Studio.]
["Arcade" was written during a pivotal moment of upheaval; the end of a long-term relationship and the beginning of Boomvision’s journey coming out as non-binary. The record became a way of journalling this transformation: processing grief, love, and liberation while imagining new ways of being. “Arcade came about during this seminal part of my life: between the end of the first book of adulthood and the beginning of the second one,” Boomvision recalls. “You suddenly have this massive grief and nostalgia for what’s been and will never be again, but also hope, fear and excitement of what’s to come.”]
I have not yet heard "Arcade" in it's entirety, just "Ryu", but judging by the vision of the track and the artful askew narratives of the Official Video, I have the feeling that the entire album and Official accompanying film and zines, in total, this is going to be one trippy, artful ride. https://boomvision.bandcamp.com/album/arcade
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/boomvision/
“I think of myself as an artist, as a craftsman, a craftTHEM, even - of chaos and sound,” says Boomvision, the Italo-British multidisciplinary artist behind ‘Arcade’, a debut solo project that fuses personal transformation, queer identity, and sonic world-building into a singular artistic statement.
Known for their work as a session musician and co-producer for artists including Kate Nash, Boomvision now steps fully into their own voice with a genre-fluid visual album that is as emotionally expansive as it is meticulously crafted. “Crafting, for me, is owning the skills to turn what I’m processing - emotionally, spiritually, politically - into a soundscape. And part of my craft is dealing with whatever chaos is happening and transforming it into a magic musical memory we can all keep.”
At its core, ‘Arcade’ is an album about change. About the implosion of one identity and the emergence of another. Written during a pivotal period marked by the end of a long-term relationship and the beginning of Boom’s journey coming out as non-binary, the project became a way of processing a seismic shift in their inner and outer world. “You suddenly have this massive grief and nostalgia for what’s been and will never be again, but also hope, fear and excitement for what’s to come. That’s what Arcade is infused with.”
Musically, ‘Arcade’ draws on a broad spectrum of influences: the ambient textures and trance-like repetition of experimental electronics, the narrative ambition of 70s psychedelia, the theatrical defiance of Kate Bush, the futuristic chaos of PC Music, and the atmospheric melancholy of Cocteau Twins. The record is as much about emotion and space as it is about rhythm or hooks. Even the smallest sonic choices are deliberate. “I avoided using cymbals for most of the album,” Boom explains. “Instead, I sampled different types of glass smashing and breaking. It gives you the same high frequencies but without the dominance. It’s about creating room to feel.”
Thematically, ‘Arcade’ is a work of magic realism and modern mythology: a concept that Boom has developed both in sound and on screen. The 35-minute visual album tells the story of two characters, Drago and Luce, warriors from a fictional realm called Mintaka, a state on the right star of Orion’s Belt. Mintaka is powerful, utopian on the surface, but governed by rigid dogma and tradition. Drago and Luce’s rebellion mirrors Boom’s own; their decision to break away from the life expected of them and rewrite their own codes of identity, love and truth. “Mintaka is my way of processing my upbringing in Italy,” Boom says. “It’s a beautiful place, but within itself hides a lot of religion, a lot of pressure to be a certain way. I left when I was 17 to become who I really am. And now, with Arcade, I’ve come full circle. I’m singing in Italian for the first time since I left. That’s been scary, exposing, but also healing.”
Each track on ‘Arcade’ is named after a Street Fighter character. “I started looking into their origin stories,” they explain. “Then I asked myself: if my music was a comic book superhero of dreams, what would it sound like? The answer was retro ‘90s badass. Street Fighter, Mad Max, bad CGI. These characters became a way to express and process specific emotions.”
‘Chun-Li’s defiant energy became a symbol of AFAB resilience. ‘Hadouken’ captures a collective emotional uprising, blending protest chants from the London George Floyd demonstrations into a warped, glowing anthem about energy shifts, personal and political. ‘Bison’ is a vehicle for nostalgia, sampling the cicadas Boom remembers from childhood summers with their grandmother.
Magic realism and mythology are more than stylistic devices for Boomvision. They’re a framework for emotional truth, a way of rewriting reality on their own terms.“I believe magic is real,” Boom says. “We live in a world that does everything it can to disconnect us from our own magic. Magic realism means tuning into those moments and telling them through stories and sound. Modern mythology is about updating those stories, giving them new faces, new textures. That’s what Arcade is. It’s a reimagining of my own mythology, through these characters and this music.” This mythological framing also created space for vulnerability. “I could open up a channel of conversation with these archetypes. It made it easier to be honest, to be in dialogue with my feelings without always making it directly about me.”
Community, DIY ethos and punk values also form the foundation of Boom’s work. “Making music and art out of whatever’s available, doing it with your mates, elevating each other. That's what this is all about. Our spaces of resistance and collectiveness are under threat, and it’s historically crucial we create and protect them.” From the early stages of the project to the meals shared during the visual shoot, Boom’s Italian heritage has flowed into their creative process. Not just in sound or language, but in the instinct to gather, nourish and build independent systems of support. ‘Arcade’ is both a mirror and a map: a document of rupture and rebuilding, and an invitation for others to explore their own inner landscapes. “I hope it gives people permission to dream up their own fantasy realities and weave those into the real world,” Boom says. “To break free from the industry construct of what music should be. Just use the tools you have and make the best thing you can. That honesty translates. That’s magic.”
And this is only the beginning. “Arcade was made in a moment of isolation. The next chapter will be about collective creation. Seeing what magic can happen when everyone brings their craft to the table.”
BOOMVISION, Italo-British multidisciplinary artist, guitarist, vocalist, producer, indie rock, dream pop, alt pop, electronica, synthwave, guitar visions, percussive grooves, single "Ryu", debut full length album "Arcade",
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