Feb 18, 20211 min read

“The Wild” proves to be a delicate work, one that revels in XUFA’s unbridled sense of joy.

XUFA - The Wild

A sense of pure bliss and belonging ties together XUFA’s reassuring cycles of “The Wild”. The translucent plastic cadence of the sound recalls nods towards SOPHIE’s polished pop perfection. Her voice however does feel uniquely her own, bringing the gap between a mantra and an outright pop song. Never falling into either category clearly, she brings together a sort of ancient Zen alongside a modern reflective stance. Lyrics too seem pared down to the essentials yet they too reveal a certain desire to have a direct, visceral impact on the very soul.

Glowing keys introduce the piece as her voice and the sound merge to become one. The delicate nature of the track is positively drenched in sunshine. A toy box like melody takes shape as each cycle of the sound feels poignant. Little flourishes come on through as there is a luxurious quality to it. Small little glitch effects add up in significant ways. Moments of it have an almost shoegaze-like dreaminess to them, with the robotic vocals feeling so strangely almost Kraftwerk-like in terms of their alien yet warm tones. Layers are filtered into the fray but the song never becomes too myriad – her sound is clean, pristine, and perfectly polished. The word choice reflects this appearance for every single verse seems to be sculpted with the utmost of affection and compassion, allowing for the work to linger in the mind long after the track has ended.