Mysterious, multifaceted collective i Häxa have announced ‘Part Three’, the latest chapter of their ground-breaking multimedia project, releasing on 16th August, 2024 through Berlin’s Pelagic Records.
A singular vision that weaves together genre-defiant soundscapes, longform abstract film and ancient meteorological mythologies; i Häxa is a breathtaking dissection of the world as we know it, a forceful separation of the monotony of modernity from the rites and rituals that for centuries formed the foundations for who we are, how we came to be and where we claim to belong. Disjointed fragments of time collide. Two sides, one of logic and one of chaos, seeking unity and balance through an expression of freedom. This is i Häxa.
Where ‘Part One’s harsh electronics and distorted alt-folk followed a nameless, wraith-like woman through an ever-shifting fever dream and ‘Part Two’ introduced a more intimate, tender and organic emphasis as the focus shifts towards i Häxa as a physical entity, as myth made manifest; ‘Part Three’ is visceral, deep and driving, with bone-shaking basslines interrupted without warning by abrupt, high-gain percussion as singer-songwriter and visual artist Rebecca Need-Menear’s spellbinding voice and cryptic lyrics float effortlessly above.
As the first taste of ‘Part Three’, the eerie, reverberating introduction to ‘Dryland’ is unceremoniously shattered by a speaker-bursting staccato backbeat before the track’s abrupt ending reminds us in no uncertain terms that this is but one piece of something bigger, yet to be revealed…
‘Part Three’ is the third of four chapters in an ambitious, year-long multifaceted project from Need-Menear (also of electronic alt-rock duo Anavae) and forward-thinking producer Peter Miles (Architects, Dodie, Fizz). Together, as i Häxa, Need-Menear and Miles are using the seasonal solstices of 2024 as waypoints to unveil collections of songs and cinematics ahead of a vinyl box-set combining all four ‘Parts’ set for release this November. The project charts an existential journey to the very depths of what makes us human, with every impassioned pang amplified in glitched-out, technicolour glory, before ultimately pulling everything together as one awesome, unified whole.
A project years in the making that draws simultaneously from rituals for old gods and the modern day deification of data, i Häxa is both heartwarming and horrifying; i Häxa is ancient history and hyper-real; i Häxa is everybody and no one at all; i Häxa is for you and for me; i Häxa is here and it is happening now.
‘Part Three’ is out 16th August, 2024.
‘Dryland’ is out now.
