Sudan Archives’ third album, The BPM, is a tense and virtuosic exploration of a life in constant motion. Following her 2022 breakthrough Natural Brown Prom Queen, this record strips back some of that album’s pristine, widescreen feel for something grittier and more wintry. It documents the emotional whiplash of a breakup bleeding into a rebound period, wrapping liminal angst and vulnerability inside a collection of dancefloor-ready tracks.

The production is rooted in the rhythmic grids of house and techno but is deeply human at its core. Using a vintage toolkit (like a Roland SP-404) and collaborating with family and friends, Sudan builds tracks with pounding four-on-the-floor kicks and ticking hi-hats. However, the music often broadcasts a deep sadness before the lyrics do. Acoustic interruptions, chopped vocals, and string arrangements (featuring Chicago’s D-Composed quartet) constantly jolt the listener, creating a feeling that is both euphoric and claustrophobic.

Lyrically, the album lives in contradiction—a space of “cracked braggadocio and hidden insecurity.” Boasts about big bankrolls are undercut by admissions of getting “real low.” Characters chase the thrill of a “bad bitch” lifestyle but are burdened by yearning and unease, confusing breathlessness for satisfaction. This tension makes *The BPM* a powerfully confessional work that reclaims dance music’s potential for emotional honesty.

Stand-Out Tracks

Los Cinci: A moment of contemplative pace where Sudan sings, “Sometimes I can get real low but I am high right now,” encapsulating the album’s emotional duality. A Bug’s Life and Touch Me are tracks that explore shaky confidence and the weight of a nonstop lifestyle with matter-of-fact affection that turns into burden, while She’s Got Pain and Noire are songs that push into darker, more pummeling terrain, using movement and dense production as a survival tactic.

While her violin remains a rousing presence, it is often tucked into song bridges and intros here, serving the track’s driving energy rather than providing a reckless release as in past work.

The BPM is Sudan Archives’ most grounded and anxious album to date. It masterfully blends the hominess of her Midwestern roots with booming, red-line arrangements, resulting in a complex portrait of modern life where dancing forward feels like the only way to cope with the pressure bearing down.