PREMIERE: CONCEPTUAL - And If All Goes Well [Distorted Waves]
Distorted Waves VA 001 is the third release on Nadia Struiwigh’s label and marks a shift in scale and scope. Where previous outings were solo projects, this compilation opens the doors to a wider network of artists, ten contributors working from a single custom sample pack created by Struiwigh herself. The source material leans into sci-fi ambient territory: synthetic textures, artificial environments, hints of imagined machinery. But rather than dictating direction, the pack acts as a set of raw ingredients, meant to be stretched, broken down, and reassembled freely. Among the contributors is Simone Scardino, aka CONCEPTUAL, whose work has always reflected a hybrid mindset. As founder of Berlin’s Friendship Collective and a producer with both club energy and a visual arts sensibility, Scardino brings a sense of control and clarity to even the most abstract material.
“And If All Goes Well” pulls you in with a tightly woven dual arpeggio pattern that feels more alive than programmed, like a swarm of drones shifting in formation, constantly on the edge of unraveling. The synths trace fast, repeating lines but never feel locked in; they shimmer, stutter, and orbit each other in a kind of digital murmuration. Scardino leans into the sci-fi tone of Struiwigh’s sample pack from the first bar, but doesn’t overcook it. Instead, he lets the synthetic material breathe, shaping it through restraint and precision. A distorted rhythmic layer surfaces underneath, not aggressive, but coarse enough to give the track a pulse you feel in your chest more than your feet. It’s a stripped but spacious composition, built less for the club than for immersion. Played in isolation, it holds its own. But in the dark, with no distractions, it expands, becoming something vast, strange, and fully transportive.
Distorted Waves VA 001 is set to release on July 3.