ARCN TEMPL
2008 - 2016
X’ Ho & ARCN TEMPL
Lucifugous, 2013
X’ Ho & ARCN TEMPL
Lucifugous, 2013
Lucifugous is not easy-listening by any stretch of the imagination. However, it resonates with an 'inspirational' groove emitted from the very nature of its "daily mantras". The album's dark spiritual force comes from the cracks of a universe and place where survival is deemed extraordinary. It isn't just a view of escape and redemption, but also a quest for a very dark invocation of light in visionary perception.
ARCN TEMPL was the duo of Leslie Low and Vivian Wang, both former founding members of Singapore band The Observatory. ARCN TEMPL collaborated with the design and art collective :phunk studio on their art exhibition New World which travelled to Taiwan, Korea and Barcelona. In January 2010, ARCN TEMPL provided live, improvised music for the theatrical production of The Spirits Play by the late Kuo Pao Kun in New Delhi, India. The duo released their debut album, Emanations of a New World, on Utech Records in May 2010, signalling the emergence of Southeast Asian groups in contemporary music.
In Emanations, the duo recount childhood memories of mythological fantasy theme park called Haw Par Villa. First called Tiger Balm Garden, the odd but colorful attraction contained a strange mix of characters and familiar tales from Chinese mythology and folklore, mixed in with earthy depictions of modern life and the Chinese concept of hell. The mutual love and dread of the park is told over eight recordings. Voice, guitar, percussion and other traditional instrumentation weave a cloth of surreal bliss, eeriness and horror.
The duo also went on to release two more works, a short EP called Glass Blood, also on Utech, a split release with Chöd, and another album called Lucifugous with Singapore punk poet, writer and musician X' Ho.
