NOCUI Unveils Debut Album 'Italian Robot'
Listen to the debut album from DJ and producer NOCUI.
Italian-born, Berlin-based artist, DJ and producer NOCUI, has released his highly anticipated debut album, Italian Robot, out via Shapeless Culture.
The album arrives following the success of recent singles including ‘No More Stress’, ‘Crave The Physical’, and ‘Machine Power’, each setting the scene for this deeply personal exploration of modern life through sound. On Italian Robot NOCUI embraces retro-futurist aesthetics, weaving them with introspective lyrics and themes that speak to a contemporary struggle: finding humanity within technology's vastness.
Across the album’s nine tracks, NOCUI crafts a three-part conceptual journey through the tensions and connections of a technologically charged world. Inspired by his background in neuroscience, Italian Robot delves deep into the complex nexus of technology, society, and human existence. The project, which is NOCUI's (and Shapeless Culture’s) debut long-player, encapsulates a profound exploration of our modern era.
With each track, NOCUI invites listeners to consider the beauty and isolation of an increasingly digital landscape, through the lens of vulnerability, connection, and resilience. Blending elements of house, electronic, Italo, rock, pop, and atmospheric soundscapes, the album balances the precision of digital production with warm, human melodies, creating a sound both familiar and otherworldly - evoking both the excitement and alienation of living in a tech-dominated world.
Opening track, ‘Maximal Rhapsody’, juxtaposes sharp electronic beats with softer, emotive undertones underscoring this dichotomy, giving listeners a sense of the conflicting emotions tied to our increasingly digitised lives. Single release, ‘Machine Power’ ups the ante with explosive, maximalist synth leads and a vocoder-laden journey into machine funk.
The album’s lead single, ‘Give Up Control’, embraces retro-futurism with a thrusting Italo sensibility - irresistible 808 rhythms and spacey synths dance beneath NOCUI’s commanding spoken vox. Listeners are taken into a techno-dystopian world, exploring the relationship between individual autonomy and a society engulfed in technology.
Combining post-rock and electronic elements—mind-bending vocoders, gritty distorted synths, and 80s-inspired drums - ‘One Life’ takes listeners on an exhilarating night ride. With echoes of Kavinsky, Daft Punk, and Justice, NOCUI’s talent for blending electronic beats and hi-nrg grooves are evident in spades on title track ‘Italian Robot’, and ‘Love Me For’.
‘Bring Me Light’ merges R&B sensibilities with digital textures, crafting expansive soundscapes that not only hint at the vastness of a technological future but also explore the isolation that often accompanies it. While ‘Crave The Physical’ melds retro-futurist synths, underpinned by thoughtful lyrics that speak of the desire for human connection in the digital age.
Brimming with post-disco grooves, dreamy synths, and soulful melodies, ‘No More Stress’, sees NOCUI close out the album with a yearning sense of hope. Laying bare his vulnerabilities, and embracing self-acceptance, and the ‘rawness of personal experience’, the track hints at the boundless scope of a technological future.
NOCUI's genre fusion on Italian Robot reflects a blurring of boundaries, much like the fusion of human and machine in contemporary culture. This dynamic not only shows his versatility but speaks to the adaptable, ever-changing nature of modern identity. With Italian Robot, NOCUI firmly establishes his creative identity, offering a distinct perspective on the role of music in an age where technology shapes so much of our reality.
About NOCUI
Following a huge 2023, in which he released his debut EP ‘Anomie’ and the disco-infused, ‘Starlight Delight’, both earning him praise across the BBC 6 music family, Italian-born musician and producer Leonardo Di Fiore, better known as NOCUI, has cultivated a strong reputation for his meticulous sound work. The multifaceted artist’s signature sound fuses captivating rhythms with memorable club music that draw from a wide range of influences spanning from 80s Italo to 00s house, as well as Mediterranean and Latin references. As the founder of Shapeless Culture, a label rapidly gaining recognition for its innovative approach to electronic music, NOCUI demonstrates an enviable A&R flair, introducing artists Siberi and FRCTLS, who have delivered truly impressive debut releases. With the release of Italian Robot, the label's debut LP release, 2024 and beyond, appears exceedingly promising for both the label and its founder.
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