Ecco2k drops first solo song in 5 years, “Aldehydes and Ketones”

Today (October 22), the incredibly versatile Swedish artist Ecco2k, real name Zak Arogundade, has re-emerged with his first solo release in five years. Produced by longtime friend and collaborator Gud, "Aldehydes and Ketones" comes after a lineage of acclaimed works — the PXE EP from 2021 and Arogundade’s cult favorite debut album, E, from 2019.

In the supporting musical film, Arogundade, who shot, directed, and edited the entire video, also plays the protagonist, “Echo,” who journeys through various half-built, almost ruinous environments. Gaping skies, industrialized landscapes, and the interaction between the “manmade and natural sublimes” lend themselves to an eerie, but all-too-familiar atmosphere. This music video was shot across 12 countries over the last six years, and is a testament to the exponential expansion of Arogundade’s artistic practice into somehow-more media.

As part of the Swedish music collective Drain Gang, alongside Bladee, Whitearmor, and Thaiboy Digital, Ecco2k helped found a cultural movement that has gone far beyond cult following. Drain Gang not only popularized a specific sound but also an extremely specific aesthetic. With new work like “Aldehydes and Ketones,” however, Ecco2k is continuing to carve out his own niche in an aesthetic/sound that he had a major hand in creating.

Read The FADER’s feature on the release of PXE here.