KUČKA COVERS CHRISTINA AGUILERA’S ‘BEAUTIFUL’

Picking up where her debut full-length, Wrestling, left off, Los Angeles-based, Perth-raised electronic pop auteur KUČKA today shares her cover of Christina Aguilera‘s iconic 2002 single, ‘Beautiful‘. LISTEN HERE.

KUČKA subsumes the sob-into-your-hands self-empowerment of Aguilera’s original within her futuristic production palette, exploring pop songwriting that excavates the deepest sense of the self. Where Aguilera’s ballad was characterised by an aching, resilient nakedness, KUČKA‘s reinterpretation draws out the original’s innate bliss, layering cherubic vocals, bouncy, modulated synth plucks that ping-pong around the mix, and gracious pads that ebb in and out like a dawning sense of contentment that slowly overcomes you.

Following years of anticipation built off of her prolific past of collaborations with the likes of SOPHIE, Flume, Vince Staples, A$AP Rocky, and more, Wrestling finally arrived as KUČKA‘s debut solo LP in April 2021 via Soothsayer / LuckyMe. Self-written, produced, and recorded, Wrestling fused together R&B, jazz, new age, and electronic influences to construct deeply autobiographical stories on growth, love, and journeying, the result of a trying but fruitful transitional period in the producer-songwriter’s personal life.

Spanning love, conflict, sexuality, and maturity, Wrestling presented an honest depiction of KUČKA‘s lived experiences wrapped in a self-assured musical perspective that treads the line between synthetic Hi-Fi and organic DIY, garnering comparisons to fellow electronic-pop visionaries Caroline Polachek, The Knife, Björk, and more. Praised as “unlike anything else coming out of Australia right now” (Red Bull Music), Wrestling won ravenous praise from across the industry, including Rolling Stone, NME, The Guardian, SPIN, Exclaim!, Bandcamp, FBi Radio (Album of the Week) and saw KUČKA dominate across indie, pop and electronic DSP playlists around the world.

‘Beautiful‘ is out now, buy/stream it here.