Aja Ireland - Cryptid (2025)

Following her recent explorations at the intersection of AI, club culture and visceral sound design, British electronic artist Aja returns with her new album ‘Cryptid’ via Infinite Machine due out on January 31st. A high-impact album steeped in themes of empowerment, resilience and mysticism. A vivid testament to the underground culture that shaped her, fusing blistering soundscapes, experimental lyrics, and club-ready energy to encapsulate Aja’s unique and confrontational artistry. Cryptidemerges as a collection of sounds that are as unrestrained as they are intimate.

Pearls Bleed Too kicks off as a fierce anthem for unity, blasting away notions of exclusivity in club culture with raw, communal energy. Aja’s scorching beats and hyper-industrial rhythms unite a legion of “broke bitches” in defiance of consumerist status symbols. With an unfiltered, supportive voice, Aja redefines the club environment as a space for solidarity, not separation.

The album’s title track, Cryptid, sees Aja channel her love of Dadaist lyricism, crafting verses that riff on her musical influences in a blend of subconscious wordplay. Employing AI to delve into the subconscious, she offers lyrics that are at once random and revealing, creating a labyrinthine world of hidden meaning within its bass-heavy future trap beats.

Death Drop accelerates with a fierce, protective energy for LGBTQIA+ and female communities. The pulse of a club beat, merged with ominous basslines, pulses through this defiant track, symbolising resilience against exhaustion and echoing the death-drop moves popularised in drag culture—a show of strength against all odds.

In 5 of Cups, Aja turns inward, exploring love, self-acceptance, and the spiritual strength she draws from her addiction recovery journey. With textured vocals and a backdrop of raw soundscapes, the track captures the ebb and flow of personal struggle. Named for the tarot card that represents dejection, this deeply intimate piece mirrors the emotional push and pull of overcoming addiction and the search for self-fulfillment.

If You Don’t Exist carries an existential edge, offering comfort to those fighting to stay afloat. Inspired by a friend's bumper sticker reading "Honk if you don't exist," Aja’s freewriting unfolds into a gritty, life-affirming track that captures resilience in the face of life's darker moments. She shifts her vocal delivery, inspired by Ice Spice’s intonation, adding playful inflections to the existential core of the song.

With The Day I Fell Without My Wings, co-written with artist Leomi Sadler, Aja channels a lighter energy, drawing on A.G. Cook’s hyperpop production style. Lyrics like “I can be your dentist, I can look inside” bring a playful twist to the album's tonal journey, providing a moment of levity amid introspection.

Little Butt Baddie is a humorous dive into drill-inflected beats and dark, noisy undertones, celebrating self-love and empowerment with a playful wink. Here, Aja’s industrial textures converge with hip-hop's braggadocio in a delightful and unapologetic track about body positivity, complete with lyrics on growth, self-image, and—of course—eating cake.

Closing with the hauntingly personal Hundreds of Tiny Discomforts, Aja delves into the raw experience of loss and grief surrounding an abortion. This track captures a delicate, glitch-infused exploration of both life’s potential and its limits, blending intimate sound design with moments of silence to convey profound emotional weight and the complex healing journey that follows.

Cryptid is not just an album; it's a sonic archive of resilience, healing, and defiance—a club-ready collection that invites listeners to confront life’s complexities through Aja's unmistakable sound. With her unfiltered energy and uncompromising production, Aja's Cryptid marks her as a vanguard in electronic music, challenging her audience to not only listen but to feel with her.