Today, New York native and interdisciplinary artist Araya shares the newest glimpse into his neon, hyperpop-meets-RnB world with “ANGEL CRY,” produced with his longtime collaborator Frankie Scoca (New Jeans, Druv, Dreamer Isioma), ahead of the release of the ANIME EP on June 7. Listen to “ANGEL CRY” HERE.

“ANGEL CRY” plays as if Frank Ocean’s “Nikes” was born at a rowdy CharliXCX Boiler Room Set. Dreamy but buzzing, glitchy percussion drives in and around underwater vocals. The drop contains a tense restraint, indicative of sophistication far beyond Araya’s years.

Some things Araya loves: weed, dying his hair (transformation; recent single “BLEACH CUT”), tall boots (Diesel, specifically), chic Canadian tuxedos, video games, traveling and connecting with his ancestors + beyond, his FRIENDS, dramatics, vocal plugins like Yamaha’s Vocaloid DAW…

Of “ANGEL CRY,” Araya says, “‘I’m pressing start in every game that you want me to play in.’ This song is an homage to the love I think I deserve. When I was writing it I wanted the words to feel sweet and hopeful because I was aiming to feel like that again. My comfort is video games, a nice crib, unlimited smoke and laughs, and company that would make an angel cry. 

Born and raised in Long Island, NY, Araya attended FIT and trained to be a graphic designer and photographer, while dreaming of pursuing a career in music. He has always grappled with purpose, identity, and spirituality through his music as he mixes vintage and futuristic sounds into a transfixing blend of R&B, soul, hip-hop, and electronic music. Araya uses music as a medium to comprehend and channel life experiences into reflective tales of self-acceptance and understanding. As a queer person coming into his truer self each day, and growing up with both Thai and Chilean cultural influence, the lens we get to peer through while experiencing this luxurious-with-jagged-edges album shows us the influence of loving matriarchs as powerful dragons, first true loves revealed to be dark and torturous voids, and the chosen community as a young creative in New York realized through his visuals. 

Recalling artists like Tirzah, Erika de Casier, or Blood Orange, Araya has fans at NPR Music, Teen Vogue, Remezcla, SPIN, i-D China, and more. In February of 2022, Araya released his sophomore LP, Ethos, to significant acclaim just over a year after his breakout debut Atlas. Since the release of Ethos, Araya has been steadily collaborating with a myriad of producers & artists such as CLIP, Y2K, Yeek, Monte Booker, Junior Varsity, Cautious Clay & more while piecing together his most recent EP ARENA, as if it were a puzzle of his very own beating heart. This next chapter is the natural continuation of his heart’s journey expressed through his music.