New Music: Vákoum – Airotic

With the release of their Linchpin album edging ever closer – on the 19^th of February in fact, American experimental pop duo Vákoum (Natalia and Kelli Rudick-Padilla) have given us another taster for what’s to come with the sublime Airotic.

With its haunting, high energy arrangement, Airotic transfixes the listener from the start. Possessing the same kind of otherworldly presence you can hear in the music of Sigur Rós and CocoRosie, Airotic hints at the music of times past – from early music to shoegaze, but framed around vocals that lend each note a sense of constant wonder and discovery.

They say about the song, “Airotic was written pre-COVID, though it translates well to our present moment. The track guides the listener through the stages of an anxiety attack, using sonic transitions to mark the initial moment of panic leaden with fear and dread, through the disconnect we feel from our body and breath until the moment we finally let go. The song is about grounding through breath, a skill Kelli explains she only honed in recent years. Airotic came from this visualization of the breath,” she says. “There’s so much power in conscious breathing, and most people don’t know how to breathe. I feel like I didn’t know how to breathe until a couple years ago, and so to me it’s the only thing that’s left when things become really hard, and dark, and you lose control. It’s the only thing to anchor you to the ground.”

You can listen to more music from Vákoum on Spotify and Apple Music while Linchpin is up for pre-order on Bandcamp. Explore Vákoum’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram socials to find more listening options and to keep up with news about Linchpin.