Over a 20-plus year career, Ariel Pink has amassed an imposing and unique body of work. With each release, the prolific writer and producer has refined and remixed his own ultra-specific brand of pop pastiche; at this point, Pink is countless records deep into his career, and his music still sounds inspiringly strange.
Since 2014’s Pom Pom, a new kind of introspection and nostalgia has been on full display in Pink’s work, perhaps befitting an artist who has been working tirelessly for the better part of two decades. In some kind of alignment with that feeling, next month sees the release of the first portion of Mexican Summer’s Ariel Archives project, a series of reissues of rare and out-of-print Ariel Pink records. October 25th sees the release of Underground and Loverboy, as well as Oddities, Vol. 2, a compilation of new unreleased material.
Today, The FADER is premiering “Bolivian Soldier,” a new track from Oddities, Vol. 2, as well as the song’s video, titled “Chapter 6: Bolivalium Soldier,” another part of Dedicated To Boris Karloff, a film by Salvador Cresta and Pink that will see the light of day in 2020. Hazy and frantic, “Bolivian Soldier” carries the same sonic hallmarks as Before Today, Pink’s breakthrough Haunted Graffiti record. It’s a delightfully disorientating cut, riding a frantic and irregular beat before quickly sliding into the occasional hook. Hypnotic and textured, it’s classic Pink. Listen to “Bolivian Soldier,” and watch “Bolivalium Soldier,” above; Pre-order the Ariel Archives records here.
