Aradia is a new sort of indie electronic artist, although “new” may not be the correct term. In her most recent, “CEO,” Aradia shows she definitely has a penchant for the 80s, both in music and in style.
“CEO” is the first single off of Aradia’s upcoming album, and it should be taken in the deadpan, retro disco 80s style in which it was intended. Aradia has had other releases previously which weren’t quite so cheeky, but “CEO” seems to describe the struggle of trying to find one’s voice in the hypersaturated pop and EDM music industries and the video, premiered on Your EDM today, reflects that as well.
It is a little difficult to tell where Aradia’s tongue-in-cheek retro style on “CEO” and when the serious commentary begins, but it seems clear in the video that the single is both about finding one’s power in the face of pop music odds and not taking oneself too seriously. The music is well within the early house/disco wheelhouse, and listeners will get a definite Lipps “Funkytown/Gotta Move On” from the synths and beat. Aradia’s vocals, though she identifies with Grimes and Florence and the Machine, seem a little more like early Madonna in this track, and it’s unclear if this is a conscious choice. Again, it’s difficult to tell where the irony ends and the serious message begins.
Style-wise in the video, Aradia is clearly all camp. The scenes in “CEO” the video are retro from makeup to keyboards to the suits the label heads wear in the Working Girl-style rejection scenes. In fact the whole video has a sort of Working Girl vibe, albeit a little dirtier, and again the hair, makeup and styling of the sets is so retro that it’s actually a surprise when a modern Apple laptop and a newer drum machine show up in the video.
Is “CEO” serious or over-the-top? It’s up to the audience to decide. No matter what this new single from the pop/EDM fusion artist known as Aradia is a fun blast from the past with a pop song structure and a danceable beat.
Check out the video for “CEO” on Youtube now, and check the track can be pre-ordered with two other mixes on itunes.