NOCUI — Anomie

NOCUI – Anomie is the debut 12-inch release on Shapeless Culture, issued as catalogue number SC001 in June 2023. Pressed as a vinyl-only four-track EP, the record introduces the label through a deeply personal meeting point between deep house, indie dance, breakbeat, electronica and contemporary leftfield club music. Written and produced by NOCUI, the EP combines intricate rhythmic programming with orchestral textures, Latin and Middle Eastern influences, expressive synthesizers, piano, guitar and atmospheric vocal elements. Rather than treating dance music as a purely functional format, Anomie is constructed as a cinematic journey designed to work simultaneously on the body, mind and imagination. NOCUI is the project of Italian composer, sound designer and electronic music producer Leonardo Di Fiore, a Rome native now based in Berlin. His musical education began with classical piano at the age of six before expanding into jazz and electronic production. His background in composition and sound design is central to the character of Anomie: the tracks are built around detailed harmonic arrangements and unconventional rhythmic structures rather than relying on a conventional club formula. Shapeless Culture, founded by Di Fiore, was launched alongside this release as a platform for independent artists and experimental approaches to electronic music. The title Anomie refers to a state of disconnection or lack of social and emotional structure, but NOCUI approaches the idea from an unexpectedly positive direction. The artist described the record as an attempt to move dance music beyond the purely hedonistic side of club culture and create music capable of telling a story while encouraging physical movement. The result is what NOCUI calls a feeling of “blissful urgency”: a combination of tension, hope, emotional intensity and the desire to keep moving forward. The A-side opens with “Pasión”, one of the EP's defining tracks. Built around driving percussion, hypnotic handclaps and brooding synthesizers, it immediately establishes the record's fusion of club rhythm with influences that extend beyond conventional house music. Latin and Middle Eastern elements are woven into the arrangement, giving the track a distinctly Mediterranean and cross-cultural atmosphere. NOCUI's spoken and vocal elements add another layer of intimacy, while the rhythmic structure maintains a strong dancefloor pulse. “Pasión” is particularly effective because its energy develops rather than arriving fully formed. The groove establishes a foundation while piano chords, synth textures and additional rhythmic details gradually reshape the space around it. The track has been described as a high-energy piece that alternates between moments of propulsion and sections designed for deeper listening. That contrast is fundamental to NOCUI's approach: the dancefloor remains present, but the music continually asks the listener to pay attention to what is happening inside the arrangement. The track's Spanish vocal phrase reinforces its emotional centre. “La pasión es el fuego que arde por dentro” becomes a recurring statement rather than a conventional pop chorus, functioning almost like another rhythmic instrument within the production. The vocal is integrated into the atmosphere of the track, helping transform the groove from a purely functional club construction into something more personal and expressive. A2, “You’re My Strength”, moves into a more soulful and emotionally charged territory. A driving four-to-the-floor rhythm supports expressive piano and layered pads, while the arrangement gradually builds toward a dramatic breakdown. The vocal phrase — “You're my strength, my desire to move forward, I love you” — appears intermittently, giving the track an intimate and vulnerable dimension without turning it into a conventional vocal house record. The production of “You’re My Strength” demonstrates NOCUI's ability to combine electronic rhythm with compositional techniques associated with classical and cinematic music. The piano and pads create a strong harmonic framework, while the breakdown introduces a more expansive sense of space. Contemporary descriptions of the track point to an atmosphere reminiscent of the haunting emotional qualities of Art Of Noise's “Moments In Love”, particularly in the way the arrangement opens beyond its initial club framework. The B-side begins with “Paradiso”, a track that had already appeared as a single before the complete EP was released. It represents perhaps the clearest expression of Anomie’s deep-house foundation. The rhythm is driving without becoming aggressive, while oneiric keys, melancholic strings and a delicate choir-like vocal layer create an unusually expansive atmosphere around the groove. “Paradiso” is built around contrast. Its rhythmic foundation remains suitable for the dancefloor, but the harmonic and orchestral components continually pull the track toward a more cinematic space. The arrangement alternates between energetic sections and moments of deeper listening, creating the sense of a track that is constantly opening outward. NOCUI's use of strings and choral textures gives the record an almost neoclassical quality without taking it outside the language of electronic dance music. This balance makes “Paradiso” particularly versatile for DJs. It can function during the build-up of an extended set, but its emotional character also makes it effective during sunrise or late-night sessions where atmosphere becomes as important as rhythmic momentum. The track does not rely on a conventional peak-time structure; instead, its power comes from the relationship between the four-to-the-floor groove and the increasingly expressive melodic arrangement. The final track, “As Long As It Takes”, closes the physical EP with a more abstract and electronically focused approach. Synth bleeps, irregular pitch bends and repetitive vocal fragments are placed over a powerful rhythmic foundation, creating a distinctly cosmic atmosphere. The production is less obviously tied to traditional deep-house vocabulary than “Paradiso”, allowing NOCUI's sound-design background to become more prominent. The track's electronic textures appear to bend and move around the rhythm rather than simply decorating it. This creates a sense of instability without sacrificing the underlying groove. The result is an energetic closing track that brings the EP back toward experimental electronica and indie dance while maintaining the physical momentum established on the A-side. One of the most distinctive qualities of Anomie is the range of musical influences NOCUI manages to combine without making the record feel fragmented. Latin rhythmic ideas, Middle Eastern musical references, classical composition, jazz, deep house, breakbeat and electronic sound design all appear within the same four-track framework. NOCUI explained that listening to Latin, Middle Eastern and acoustic music had directly influenced the production of the record, allowing those sounds to enter the electronic arrangements naturally rather than being added as superficial stylistic references. The producer's approach to instruments is equally important. NOCUI has spoken about using analogue instruments and an expressive Continuum Fingerboard, a synthesizer that allows him to bridge the physical expressiveness of acoustic performance with electronic sound design. This helps explain why the synth elements throughout Anomie often feel less like static programmed parts and more like performed musical phrases. The physical SC001 pressing adds another dimension to the release. The original 12-inch appeared in June 2023 and was marketed as vinyl only, with the four-track sequence arranged as Pasión / You're My Strength on the A-side and Paradiso / As Long As It Takes on the B-side. The physical edition is distinct from the digital presentation, where the tracks appear in a different order. For DJs, Anomie offers unusually broad programming possibilities. “Pasión” brings percussive Latin and Middle Eastern energy, “You’re My Strength” provides deep and soulful emotional weight, “Paradiso” works as an atmospheric deep-house journey, while “As Long As It Takes” introduces more experimental electronic movement. The four tracks can therefore be used at different stages of a set without losing the underlying identity of the record. For collectors, SC001 is particularly significant because it is the first release on Shapeless Culture and establishes the label's aesthetic from the outset. The record is not simply an EP released by an established label; it represents the beginning of NOCUI's own imprint and his attempt to create a platform for music that can operate outside conventional club expectations. Anomie is ultimately a deeply musical piece of contemporary electronic dance music. Its grooves remain functional, but the production continually expands beyond the boundaries of straightforward house. Piano, strings, pads, percussion, vocal fragments, synthesizers and unusual rhythmic patterns are assembled into tracks that feel composed as much as produced. NOCUI – Anomie, Shapeless Culture SC001, is therefore an essential early document of Leonardo Di Fiore's artistic language: sophisticated deep house combined with indie dance, breakbeat, electronica and influences from Latin, Middle Eastern, jazz and classical music. Released as a vinyl-only 12-inch in 2023, it establishes Shapeless Culture with four emotionally charged club tracks that favour storytelling, experimentation and musical detail over conventional dancefloor formulas. Tracklist: A1. NOCUI – Pasión A2. NOCUI – You’re My Strength B1. NOCUI – Paradiso B2. NOCUI – As Long As It Takes