On their debut full-length LP Linchpin<\/em>, experimental duo V\u00e1koum<\/a> offer up an expansive array of rhythmic, textural, and tonal complexity, utilizing unexpected transitions between effected guitars, a blend of acoustic and electronic drum beats, and ethereal Bulgarian-inspired vocals to create a sound that mirrors the many mood swings of an anxious human mind. Though certainly relevant in these unprecedented times, these are themes V\u00e1koum has been unpacking since their very inception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multi-instrumentalists, composers, and producers Kelli Rudick and Natalia Rudick-Padilla formed V\u00e1koum in 2014, upon meeting at a guitar clinic at now-defunct creative hub The End in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Since then, they\u2019ve released an EP (2017’s Home for Home<\/a><\/em>), toured with The Album Leaf, and refined a sound inspired by the likes of Bj\u00f6rk, Blonde Redhead, and Holly Herndon. They\u2019re due to drop Linchpin<\/em> February 19th, and they premiere the video for the album’s second single \u201cAirotic\u201d on Audiofemme today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAirotic\u201d 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. \u2018\u201cAirotic\u2019 came from this visualization of the breath,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s so much power in conscious breathing, and most people don\u2019t know how to breathe. I feel like I didn\u2019t know how to breathe until a couple years ago, and so to me it\u2019s the only thing that\u2019s left when things become really hard, and dark, and you lose control. It\u2019s the only thing to anchor you to the ground.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directed by Adrian Landeros and featuring dancer Yansi Mendez, the video\u2019s choreography was entirely improvised. They had been filming all day; Mendez was cold and exhausted. They stopped production but the cameras were still rolling when something came upon her and she started moving, capturing the song\u2019s meaning through movement entirely led by intuition, herself becoming grounded, becoming one with her body.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n