Joburg’s Breakout Star, Archi, Drops Highly-Anticipated Debut Album ‘These Thoughts’
Following his exponential rise in the music industry since bursting on the scene last year, Archi has dropped his highly-anticipated debut album, These Thoughts. After the success of his previous releases, including two EP’s, it’s become time for Archi to share this body of work. These Thoughts is a title that perfectly encapsulates the album as exactly what it is – a collection of personal reflections. “Choosing this specific title for the album was a beautiful way to introduce the whole project as a collection of things I’ve thought and gone through,” Archi explains.
Stream ‘These Thoughts’ here: https://archi.bio.to/Archi
The album’s lead single, ‘Breakdown’, is set to be the next pop summer anthem. The single dives into the complex emotions of facing life’s difficulties and the escapism found in busyness and partying. “Breakdown was inspired by that feeling I get when life is becoming difficult and unclear,” says Archi. “Being busy and partying becomes the main coping mechanism rather than shutting down.” The single was written and produced by Archi himself over two days.
Listen to ‘Breakdown’ here: https://youtu.be/LQ23d-_-emg?si=Bnmb1TvyJL6t7JCK
When it came to the song selection process for These Thoughts, Archi shares that his process is deliberate. “I tend to only finish songs I really like which makes the song selection phase pretty straightforward. I think there was only one song I considered that ended up being left off the album.” He did, however, experiment with various track orders in order to find the perfect flow. “Creating the running order gave me small transitional ideas like the water between ‘Besides the Point’ and ‘Misses Love’, as well as the monologue on ‘Set in Stone’.”
Asking to choose his favourite song off the album was a difficult ask, but Archi landed on both ‘Loneliness’ and ‘Never Again’ “‘Loneliness’ is deeply meaningful to me because I connect so strongly with what I was writing, and it pushed me furthest into the alternative sound. ‘Never Again’ symbolises my growth in skills and taste since I first wrote it at the beginning of lockdown in 2020,” he explains.
Born in Mauritius but raised in Johannesburg, Archi’s diverse background and unique musical journey have shaped his distinctive sound. “Music has always been a huge part of my life, although it took me a long time to see it,” he reflects. Influenced by artists such as Amy Winehouse, Gorillaz, Mac Miller, and Anderson Paak, as well as classic groups like The Beatles and The Zombies, he aims to create music that blends these diverse inspirations in a sound that is uniquely him. He continues to push the boundaries of the music scene and is poised to be the next big artist coming out of SA!
Dive into Archi’s debut album, These Thoughts – available on all major streaming platforms. For updates, follow Archi’s journey on social media: @archi.dotcom