Uboa | Artist
Xandra Metcalfe aka Uboa is an Australian drone, ambient and noise rock artist from Melbourne. No information is available about her date and place of birth. Metcalfe is becoming one of the most celebrated neoclassical darkwave artists on the scene. Uboa's music often reflects her struggles with her transgender identity, reflected in works which encompass ambient music and harsh white noise. The Uboa project began in 2010 during a period when Metcalfe experimented with doom metal textures and home studio equipment, and gradually moved towards noise, experimental and abstract compositions. To-date the artist has released eight studio albums, including three collaborations, plus a handful of EP's and Singles. Standout works include The Sky May Be (2018), The Origin of my Depression (2019), and Impossible Light (2024). In a very positive review of The Origin of My Depression, critic Anthony Fantano, described her sound as a "cerebral dive" into Xandra's most negative and intense feelings of being a transgender woman...via "intense feelings of abandonment...expressed through intense soundscapes...and walls of distortion." Her most recent album Impossible Light is also attracting critical accaim, as exemplified by this review from RYM: "The aggressive walls of sound hold a deeper meaning to me when listening again now that I have the ending track for context. Let this record sweep over you and I think you will have one of the most life affirming audio experiences by the ending moments of this album. Highly recommend for anyone who is looking to get into more abrasive flavors of music." Metcalfe has collaborated as Uboa with several other noise artists including Slumber Kitty, Muddy Lawrence, Solus Varak and has produced a split EP with Bolt Gun. Metcalfe uses music as a cathartic expression of her mental anguish. In an April 2019 interview Metcalfe described the sources of her mental pain as including "mistaken identity, failed relationships and inability to love, joblessness, boredom, structurelessness, psychosis and anxiety." Shortly after the release of The Origin of My Depression, Metcalfe was diagnosed with autism and ADHD. Metcalfe described her writing process involves "little conscious intentionality, it is mostly an intuitive process of writing. Nothing is planned out, and a lot of the songs are improvisations refined into compositions.. some take countless attempts to get right, whereas some come out of nowhere". The name "Uboa" is of Japanese origin and means "fear". Uboa is also a ghost-like character in a 32-bit PC game called Yume Nikki. It appears in a random event in which you turn the lights off in Poniko's house.
Artist Website: uboa.bandcamp.com
Featured Albums: Uboa
Related Artists: Little Songs of the Mutilated, Bolt Gun
Collections: Movers Shakers
