Uboa is the musical project of the Australian

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

and

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

artist Xandra Metcalfe. She began in 2010 during a period when Metcalfe experimented with

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

textures and home studio equipment, and gradually moved towards noise, experimental and abstract compositions. Fantano, Anthony.
Uboa - The Origin of My Depression
.

theneedledrop Anthony Nicholas Fantano ( ; born October 28, 1985) is an American music critic and internet personality who runs ''The Needle Drop'', a YouTube channel with a tie-in website and Twitch streaming channel. Self-billed as "The Internet's Busiest ...

, 19 July 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019Parr, George.
Xandra Metcalfe on Melancholia, Eclecticism and The Origin Of My Depression
. ''Astral Noize'', 11 March 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019 Metcalfe has collaborated as Uboa with several other noise artists including Slumber Kitty, Muddy Lawrence, Solus Varak, teeth dreams and has produced a split EP with Bolt Gun.Farmer, Boddhi.
Uboa and SolusS Varak: The Absolute
".

4zzz 4ZZZ (pronounced "Four Triple Zed" or simply "Triple Zed") is an independent community radio station operating in Brisbane, Australia at the frequency 102.1 FM. As a community radio station, 4ZZZ is a member of the Community Broadcasting Associa ...

. Retrieved 17 October 2020

Career

Xandra Metcalfe is based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. Uboa's debut album ''Sometimes Light'' was released in 2010, followed by ''Jouissance'' in 2013 and ''The Sky May Be'' in 2018.Interview #13
". ''Archive Hate''. Retrieved 3 August 2019 In 2019, she released her fourth album ''The Origin of My Depression'', which was recorded amidst her

suicide attempt A suicide attempt is an act in which an individual tries to kill themselves but survives. Mental health professionals discourage describing suicide attempts as "failed" or "unsuccessful", as doing so may imply that a suicide resulting in death is ...

via

drug overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. Retrieved on September 20, 2014.

. The album cover was taken from her point of view in a hospital bed following the attempt, which in her words, "could have been the last thing I saw before I died. Nothing glorious, but something boring and accidental." She released an EP ''The Flesh of the World'' in 2020, which

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

-based queer publication ''

Xtra Magazine ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former p ...

'' praised for its "punchy ’80s synths, layered vocals and absolutely massive blasts of raw noise." In February 2023, Uboa signed to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

-based record label

The Flenser The Flenser (also known as Flenser Records) is an American record label founded by Jonathan Tuite in 2009 in San Francisco, California. It describes itself as a "dark music" label or a "dark experimental record label". Bands that work with or ha ...

, which released ''The Origin of My Depression'' on vinyl for the first time. She opened for

Liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

on their first Australian tour in November 2023. Uboa performed three sets at the 2024

Roadburn Festival The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name. The festival has been held at Tilburg ...

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

, Netherlands, including the live debut of ''The Origin of My Depression'' in full. Uboa's fifth album ''Impossible Light'' was released on 28 June 2024.

Music

In a very positive review of ''The Origin of My Depression'' by the critic

Anthony Fantano Anthony Nicholas Fantano ( ; born October 28, 1985) is an American Music journalism, music critic and internet personality who runs ''The Needle Drop'', a YouTube channel with a tie-in website and Twitch (service), Twitch streaming channel. Self ...

, her sound was described 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", culminating in a wide expanse of styles and soundscapes. Metcalfe has said of the album's sound, "I always associated sadness in music with sparseness, barrenness and quietness. I wanted to signify empty space musically. Hence why the harsh noise is few and far between, and I think a little more effective because of all the sparseness it contrasts with". Comparing the two albums, Metcalfe has said "Originally I was worried 'The Origin of My Depression' wasn't "Uboa" enough because of how restrained and sparse it is as a record." She describes the writing process for ''My Depression'' as having "little conscious intentionality, it was mostly an intuitive process of writing. Nothing was planned out, and a lot of the songs were improvisations refined into compositions, usually after several attempts. “Detransitioning” took countless attempts to get right, whereas “An Angel of Great and Terrible Light” came out of nowhere."Vellucci, Justin.
Interview: Xandra Metcalfe of Uboa (2019)
". ''Swordfish'', 15 April 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019 Uboa named

Jenny Hval Jenny Hval ( , born 11 July 1980) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter, record producer, and novelist. She has released nine solo albums, two under the alias Rockettothesky and seven under her own name. In 2015, Hval released her fifth studio album, ...

, Planning for Burial, and producers

Geoff Barrow Geoffrey Paul Barrow (born 9 December 1971) is an English music producer, composer, and DJ. He is a member of the bands Portishead, Beak, and Quakers, and he has scored several films. Portishead was formed in 1991. He named the band after the ...

Ben Salisbury Ben Salisbury (born 1970) is a British composer, particularly known for his work in film and television. He has also worked as a co-writer, arranger and musician with a number of bands. He studied music at Newcastle University and Bournemouth ...

's collaborative score for the 2018 film ''

Annihilation In particle physics, annihilation is the process that occurs when a subatomic particle collides with its respective antiparticle to produce other particles, such as an electron colliding with a positron to produce two photons. The total energy a ...

'' as influences for ''The Origin of My Depression''. The name "Uboa" is taken from a name given by fans to a secret character in the 2004 video game

Yume Nikki is a 2004 surrealist adventure game created by the pseudonymous Japanese developer Kikiyama. The player controls a girl named Madotsuki and explores her dreams, collecting 24 effects that change her appearance and equipment. Random events als ...

. When asked about the influence of video games on her music, Uboa stated in an interview with

New Noise Magazine ''New Noise Magazine'' is an American music magazine that focuses on artist news, band interviews, album reviews and underground culture. It was founded in February 2013, by Lisa Root, who had previously been the co-founder and editor-in-chief o ...

that "the baseline drones in “Phthalates” and “Jawline” were inspired by

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

’ soundtrack to the original Quake", and that she "accidentally started making music by trying to write soundtracks for ideo games"

Personal life

Uboa's music often reflects her struggles with her

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

identity, reflected in her music via the juxtaposition of emotional ambient music and harsh white noise. In an April 2019 interview she described the sources of her mental pain as including "mistaken identity, failed relationships and inability to love, joblessness, boredom, structurelessness, psychosis... ndanxiety." Shortly after the release of ''The Origin of My Depression'', Metcalfe was diagnosed with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

and

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple ...

. She has said, "the origin of my depression was nothing other seeing myself as 'broken' for being autistic, ADHD and trans."

Discography

Albums

Extended plays and other releases

Awards and nominations

Music Victoria Awards

The

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006. ! , - , rowspan="2", Music Victoria Awards of 2019 , Uboa (Xandra Metcalfe) , Best Experimental/Avant-Garde Act , , rowspan="2", , - , ''The Origin of My Depression'' , Best Heavy Album ,

Notes

{{reflist, 1

External links

Bandcamp
Ambient music groups Australian noise musical groups Australian transgender musicians Australian transgender women Autistic musicians Australian autistic people Musical groups from Melbourne People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Transgender women musicians