Dutch producer Shook is about to land Arcana, a solo sci-fi album built on vintage analog synths, heavy drum machines and what he calls dark synth funk.
The eight tracks move between vortex sequencers, mystical vocoders and emotional piano melodies that nod to Ryuichi Sakamoto. The world behind them is one of mysticism, ancient technology, unknown creatures and robots.
Shook, the project of The Hague-based J.R.F. Wijnands, traces the record back to his early electro roots, from nu disco to synth funk, and to a love for 90s anime by Otomo, Satoshi Kon and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. “I wanted to create a similar world, where we can escape our reality,” he says. His own tip: for fans of Japanese Telecom, YMO and early electro.
Four tracks are already out as singles: Space Rock Funk in August, followed by Proxima, Ultra Magnetic and the almost nine-minute closer Omega, which arrived on 2 October.
Shook hosts a Bandcamp listening party on 30 October at 8 PM CET, playing all eight tracks, about 42 minutes, in full and in order. The Bandcamp pre-order lists the digital album for 1 November 2026.
On vinyl, Arcana comes on Epicenter (EPI021) as a first pressing of 150 copies on recycled eco-coloured vinyl, where no two records look alike, and 100 copies on black. The cover art is by Guy Warley, and the album was mastered by Jeffrey De Gans.
Live, Shook plays Musicon in Den Haag on 28 November for Music On Screen, then celebrates with an Arcana release show at Grey Space in Den Haag on 9 December.
Pre-order Arcana on Bandcamp – https://shook.bandcamp.com/album/arcana
Shook on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/3JKd43oYlE7ifoodXetsuw
Shook on Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/shook/1016773983
Shook’s official site – https://www.shookmusic.com/
About Author
