- Words Tara Garman
Visionary artist BOOMVISION bites back on the feisty Street Fighter inspired track, ‘CHUN LI’.
In the summer of 2024, artistic visionary and creative voice BOOMVISION was involved in a serious road accident that left them recovering from a brain injury. Now, they’re marking the moment with an unapologetic anthem of resilience called ‘CHUN LI’.
The Italo-British artist chose the track’s namesake carefully, citing Chun Li’s role as the first female fighter in video game history. BOOMVISION’S existence as an AFAB queer person has meant that they are no stranger to male-dominated spaces, and so they, too, have taken on the responsibility of diversifying homogenised areas of society.
Kicking with distorted drums and the echo of an electric guitar, the track’s opening feels tense yet thrilling; the heavy beat signals BOOMVISION’S defiant return and warns of their determination to stake their claim. Themes of resilience, visibility, and self-definition dart between the choppy vocal samples. Their commanding vocals reflect their recovery journey, exploring the challenge of starting from scratch and the power they gained from a near-death experience.
The glitchy production gives this track a computer game-like feel, which is a suitable stylistic choice as BOOMVISION plans to release their upcoming album, Arcade, on October 6. On ‘CHUN LI’, they maintain their punkish DIY ethics, epitomised in lines like “fuck your rules”, and bring a mystical energy through the sumptuously blended backing vocals and guitars. There is a newfound confidence within BOOMVISION that has emerged since the accident, and the multidisciplinary artist deftly uses ‘CHUN LI’ as their way of owning their identity, regardless of what anyone else thinks.