Maldives-born, Melbourne-based artist ARCTISKY delves into the tracks of his recent singles lifted form his forthcoming debut album
From the hedonistic pulse of “Loose” to the introspective depths of “Unreal Love,” ARCTISKY’s music is a raw and honest reflection of his journey.
With anthems like “Let Freedom Ring” and the vulnerable “My Relief,” he tackles global issues and personal struggles with equal fervor.
His music is a rollercoaster ride, from the euphoric highs of “Medusa” to the heart-wrenching lows of “Back to Sleep.” Join ARCTISKY as he candidly, and generously takes us Track by Track.
ARCTISKY – UNREAL LOVE
‘Unreal Love’ was written during a time when I was discovering and experiencing various consciousness-altering – let’s say episodes, which I’ve put aside due to major lifestyle changes and health reasons.
These episodes allowed me to communicate unhindered with others. During this period of my life, I realised that most people walk around unaware of how much societal conditioning affects their level of self-awareness in interactions with others.
The song is about letting go of the masks and connecting with others through your truest and rawest identity – filters off.
My aesthetic highlights the masks we’re all expected to wear – other people’s ideas of who you should be, based on false information, rumours and hate.
It’s about truly embracing what makes us human and nurturing the beautiful parts of it – love and togetherness – while embracing individuality.
The song tells the story of two people finding love in a serotonin-fuelled setting. Whenever I had these experiences, music was mainly the only thing on my mind, so I wanted to write about them.
This song highlights the story of two people who can finally come to terms with their most human parts, only under the influence due to fear of judgement.
I hope this song serves as a reminder to everyone to always maintain a bit of gentleness with yourself and others, no matter how intense things get.
ARCTISKY – LOOSE
I wrote this song about a time in my life when I had really gone off the rails. I was always a bit of a rebellious child and got into trouble at school way more than I’d like to admit.
I never intended any harm though. I grew up playing rock and roll as a drummer from the age of 6-10 and then started again at 15.
I used to love crowd jumps so that energy kind of bled into me as a person. It always lingered, and a focus on mental health wasn’t introduced to the system in the Maldives until recently.
So once I moved to Australia in 2019, I ended up having to get around the whole concept by myself with the help of Google and some journals. Anyway, right before I entered my twenties, I had a season where I was just really out of control. It was so bad I wasn’t able to stay put, y’know – just self-destructive cycles.
Most of my life growing up was spent in the Maldives, where a huge majority are right-wing conservatives. That, naturally, made me act out as a kid too because I had no idea why I was made out to be a bad kid for doing music.
I’ve always had so much love for people, and anyone who personally knows me knows that. ’Loose’ highlights some of the hectic moments I experienced during these stages when I was finding refuge in escapism.
This song in particular is about escaping a little encounter with some corrupt police somewhere in Southeast Asia.
I’ll keep the location discreet. You could say it’s based on true events… or not. Whatever keeps me outta trouble!
ARCTISKY – LET FREEDOM RING
Growing up, I always saw a lot of war on the news. The internet and media in the Maldives are fully transparent and don’t really have any curated news – which is great in some ways, however, it allows young people access to some extremely disturbing things.
On the plus side though, it lets us acknowledge the important things going on in the world too. So I was exposed to quite a bit of global news as a kid. It never sat right with me to see one human hurting another.
I always connected to the idea of equality and that everyone can find some common ground to come together. The mere fact we’re all part of the human race is a good starting point to see the global map without the political lines that divide us and to be compassionate and empathise without self-hate or guilt.
So I wrote this song as a bit of an anthem to promote freedom, hope and peace. We should be empowering each other for collective growth. Don’t let politicians monopolise your thinking space at moments of weakness.
Find the strength! Today’s wars are a major influence – we need to not let politics get in the way of seeing that we all belong to the same species.
We need to find that common ground between other individuals, acknowledge each other on the most human level, and learn from each other peacefully without resorting to hatred, judgement, jealousy, disgust, envy and violence.
In most parts of the world, political leaders are great at stirring confusion within the masses by pitting people against one another for their own gain – be it for votes or whatever.
Kinda feels like your attention span’s out of RAM space. Ego loves staying relevant, so being aware helps. Don’t entertain it and always lead with love and respect for everyone and everything.
ARCTISKY – MY RELIEF
This song is more of a depression antidote. I wrote this song during lockdowns, I had some health problems that put me in the hospital twice.
Some parts of the track were written in the ward after my first surgery; other bits during the second emergency room run (due to ibuprofen poisoning from the first surgery and terrible diet choices).
I escaped death and hit one of the lowest points in my life at that stage. I knew if I told my family about what happened, they’d want me to fly back home ’til I got better since I was in a house by myself.
But the border restrictions were so strict in Australia at the time and I couldn’t afford to be away from the studio for too long. I’d begun loads of work on personal development as well.
I am eternally grateful for those who helped me and had been there for me through that period – you are like family to me.
Around the age of 18, I noticed I was having trouble getting myself to go out and socialise. I had no idea at the time I was in a major depressive loop I just couldn’t get myself out of.
But now I’ve implemented more grounding methods to counter these states! Good food, meditation, exercise, quality time, reading, journaling – and I NEED a bit of nature to neutralise.
This song was a letter from me to myself to take a step back and heal. I’m a big advocate for mental health awareness. Never overlook it.
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ARCTISKY – BACK TO SLEEP
‘Back to Sleep’ is a love ballad that tells the story of a romance gone bad due to self-destructive habits.
It’s not about anyone in particular, but it does highlight a major thing I’ve learned in all my past relationships: to make sure you don’t let your emotional baggage infect your partner and to clear yourself from whatever you’re going through until you know you’re ready to love again.
Just make sure you always give love a chance again – it’s always worth it. I felt like I was able to write really relatable lyrics for it.
This song was written as a message to a lover lost to personal demons. I’m no relationship expert, but sometimes finding solace in some of your favourite songs can help you find better answers than trying to find them from others or an old lover.
This song will likely resonate most with people at their lowest in heartbreak-syndrome city.
I’d also lost a close friend in a surfing accident and was still healing from that when I wrote this song, which I think added that extra emotional depth to the lyrical content and vibe on the track.
Most of these songs are letters from me to myself – telling stories; sharing some insight or whatever it is. At least I got art out of it!
ARCTISKY – MEDUSA
‘Medusa’ is a track that highlights an innocent and cheeky encounter between the feminine and masculine energies.
Written from the masculine to the feminine, this song’s main influence was, again, found during lockdowns.
One of the many things I was able to address during that time was healing my sacral chakra from pre-wired societal conditioning.
After rewiring these, I’ve been able to write a lot better and be a lot more expressive with my art.
It’s no secret that your sexual energy is your life force – it’s an extremely potent energy body.
So learning how to transmute it into creativity has been a game changer for my work, and the great thing is you can do it with anything.
This track symbolises the ideal, consensual and playful interplay between the two energies (in balance and harmony).
If you are having blockages in these areas, it’s likely to manifest into aggression or self-destructive behaviours.
So understanding and honouring all parts of the body as a natural gift to us, without fear of judgement, and being grateful for its ability to be a vessel for us during our limited time on Earth is crucial, in my view.
The song’s for anyone who may need to tend to the healing process themselves. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. There’s no point in leaving a part of your being in a constant state of pain and suffering.
Finding a healthy relationship with all aspects of our being opens doorways to realising ourselves beyond anything we could have ever imagined.
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