03/2025 – Shufu Studio

The basic material condition of today’s electronic music (or any music created in the studio) is that of the digital recording. Like anything stored on a computer, its content is non-content, simply memory buffers storing sequences of numbers. The method of writing has no relation to the content of what is being written. A sound is played, and meanwhile the CPU rips through transistor gates and updates its output 44,100 times per second. And unlike the vibrations of a string, the furious repetition of this cycle has no reaction to human touch.

So, while at first glance hyperpop may seem to be at times annoying, overproduced, or ingenuine, closer examination would reveal that the simultaneous exaggeration and degradation of methods, sounds, and tropes of industry pop music reflects rather the reality of that very technical media which dominates human production today. From the uncanny brightness and chopped vocals of A.G. Cook’s productions, the saccharine vapidity of Hannah Diamond, Charli XCX’s bratty deadpan, the digital schizophrenia of Lil Mariko and 100gecs, to the serene virtual rooms of Caroline Polachek and ML Buch, these artists address the condition of living a life constantly mediated through electronic consumer devices. Any antagonism, cold exhilaration, destructive potential – just the same as alienated intimacy or surprising honesty – is in the end a reflection of the conditions under which we live.

We hope you enjoyed the results of this month’s research. Let us know your thoughts, and feel free to share your favorite tracks or artists with us over at: research@shufu.studio