Six Sex is Unafraid of Taboo

“We are six / I love sex,” proclaims Francisca Cuello, AKA the Argentinian singer and purveyor of South American electronic music Six Sex, on ‘U&ME’, the closing track off her latest EP, X-sex. A few seconds later, she chants, “My boyfriend is gay”. She has always had an affinity for provocation. The artist got kicked out of her convent elementary school for wearing her skirt too short and experimenting with her hair. “Everybody told me I was a bad influence,” she confesses, acknowledging her rebellious streak. “Even though I was more innocent as a girl, I saw that there were certain attitudes about how to wear clothes and [express] femininity.”

We talk over Zoom, where she dials in from Spain, a few days before she performs in Madrid in the city’s club, Ochoymedio. Accompanied by a translator, we start by talking about all things X-sex. “[The project] really opened up my sound universe. I didn’t know how people would receive it, but now I’m starting to feel it go from just my project to everyone’s music.”

Teetering on the borders of pop, techno, and reggaeton, Six Sex is unafraid to tap into the taboo. She is no prude, and there is nothing more powerful than a woman who owns her sexuality. She’s proof of that. Her stage name and raunchy pseudonym provide the artist, who is shrouded under a veil of relative mystery, a messianic power. The ability to splash a healthy helping of suggestive ad libs to her tracks and the title of her songs, like ‘Tocamé’ (meaning “touch me”), only adds to this. “There are a lot of songs that talk about sex, but it’s spoken more from a masculine perspective. I always thought it was cool to talk about these topics in the first person as a woman,” Six Sex explains.

Sexual liberation aside, Six Sex’s universe is entirely authentic. Turning to the sounds of her childhood provided the foundations of self-expression on this new EP. Enter, Regina Spektor, Madonna, Fatboy Slim, and The Chemical Brothers. “Everything comes together because it responds 100% to my own musical taste,” she assures. And while the influences aren’t entirely clear-cut, you see the pulse of Madonna in Six Sex’s irrepressible nature and specks of The Chemical Brothers’ big room energy in the rambunctious production style.

The electronic influences come from Argentina’s underground scene, which she has been actively involved in since 15 years old. “I was nourished by listening to innovative sounds, and many DJs who mixed pop with electronica and guaracha. What’s good about the Argentine underground scene is that it doesn’t have as much prejudice when it comes to making or mixing music. In other places, it takes longer for styles to arrive because people seem to have more prejudice. In Argentina, they have no fear of playing with that,” she tells me. However, as Six Sex’s music has dispersed from the South American continent, not everyone has been so open-minded. “I always think that it’s a pity when people have these limitations, but I don’t take it personally, I think it’s a reflection on them rather than me.”

Of course, anyone who declares, “I make music for the night, for dancing and breaking free from prejudice,” would have such a graceful reaction to haters’ acrimony. Yes, Six Sex’s work is an unabashed celebration of the sacral chakra, but it’s also a celebration of music, movement, and hedonism. No amount of social media hostility can change that.

“Society is divided into branches,” she explains when I ask what she hopes people feel when they listen to her music. “It’s hard to confine everyone to the same feelings… [there are] people who can’t enjoy it and they sort of take it personally to the point of generating hatred, and there are other people who thank me for pulling them out of their depression or allowing them to enjoy many moments.”

Pushing the trolls aside, there’s no denying that Six Sex has achieved her goal: to make tracks that are tailored for the dance floor. Even in a song that’s title is just as tongue in cheek as its lyrics – ‘How to make your ass bigger’ – there’s still something highbrow about the outcome. She’s been fine-tuning her ear for over a decade, and having started working in a techno club in Buenos Aires as a teenager, she knows a thing or two about how to navigate the world of dance music.

On X-sex, she assembles a team of producer Avengers who bring their leftfield electronic styles to the table. From South America to Berlin, Bbynito, MCR-T, DJ G2G, DBBD, Dauner, and Luca Eck add to the sugar-coated chaos we hear across 17 minutes of transcendental techno. “Many of my collaborators have a very distinct sound and aesthetic. I chose them to bring out the raver in people,” she explains.

Each producer taps into a delicious new faction of Six Sex’s sonic continuum. Thanks to MCR-T, who you may recognise from his work on horsegiirL, there’s a distinctly Berlin feel to ‘Bitches like me’, and the same can be said about Dauner and Luca Eck’s contribution to the thumping ‘U&ME’. Meanwhile, ‘Tòcame’ is a playful take on Argentina’s underground thanks to Danish-Uruguayan producer DJ G2G and a feature from compatriot rapper Dillom. Nevertheless, it’s ‘Ahhhhhh’ and ‘Performance Actitud (Pose)’ that really get to the heart of Six Sex’s sound, with Bbynito, as Six Seplains, being one of her “closest producers and collaborators”.

Post-interview, leaving the call feeling both enlightened and inspired, I imagine how Six Sex manages to make music with such consummate vivacity. The answer may lie in her ability to make us see ourselves for who we are, even the bits we feel like hiding. It’s probably why she receives such visceral reactions from listeners, both positive and negative. After all, we all have a bit of Six Sex in us!