Nadia Struiwigh – IKIGAI on Distorted Waves

Nadia Struiwigh makes a statement on Distorted Waves with “IKIGAI”, landing 16 electronica tracks built for the long game. Spanning 68–156 BPM across its 16 tracks, this release gives DJs flexible tempo options for different set moments.

IKIGAI: 16-Track Electronica Release

IKIGAI – Official Music Video

Behind the Electronica : Release Notes

Nadia Struiwighs creative journey over the past decade has seen the Berlin-based, Rotterdam-born artist make bold statements on seminal electronic labels such as CPU, NousKlaer Audio and Dekmantel. Oscillating between deep pools of ambience and the powerful mechanisms of techno, electro and jungle, as explored during her ongoing residency at seminal Berlin club, Tresor. For her fifth album, Struiwigh returns home to her own imprint Distorted Waves, giving voice to her most personal and essential work so far. Written instinctively following the sudden death of her father, IKIGAI captures Struiwigh in a vulnerable creative process, patiently drawing on visceral textures and understated rhythms. The eight-track tapestry that follows unfolds as emotional catharsis for Struiwigh, and a meditative space for those she has invited to listen in. The name IKIGAI, a Japanese word for reason for being, found me when I was at a crossroads, explains Struiwigh. The kind of moment where you ask yourself: Why am I still here? What am I still creating for? What part of me still believes in beauty when everything feels like its falling apart? IKIGAI was written in Struiwighs apartment in Berlin, metres from Hermannplatz, the bustling welcome point of the citys culturally diverse Neukolln district, and a space constantly aglow in a free-flowing, frenetic exchange of energy. In contrast, IKIGAI looks inward and boldly holds space with both the creative and emotional process, maintaining Struiwighs unbreakable connection with her machines, itself a special bond. The eight tracks on the album represent only a few moments of hours of fixated production, working through shock, grief, hope and ultimately, something beginning to resemble acceptance. Every sound, every sequence, every texture carries his fingerprints, explains Struiwigh, reflecting on the passing of her father. Not because he made music, but because he made me love gadgets. Circuits, signals, blinking lights. He was the man who opened me up to machines and taught me how, eventually, to listen to them and use them for my craft. IKIGAI inevitably opens with a mood of disbelief, translated to a sense of mystery and the humbling awe of grief on the compelling Phantom Frequency. Then, on Debugging The Soul, Struiwigh routes back to some of her most formative emotions, its vast space slowly filled with the sound of play, children laughing and echoes of childhood. The psychedelia of the absence then transforms into something stranger and almost monolithic on Gaian, which takes inspiration and understanding from the philosophy of honouring the earth. Struiwigh seamlessly, beautifully connects this reassuring perspective with her own studio craft; 4 4 4 is a ballad of machines, each unit softly communicating to make sense of it all, dancing around a strange glitch. Circle The Sun looks for an inevitable, assured break in the grey Berlin skies of winter, hopeful of the notion that our collective encircling on earth can provide healing. With Last Night Transmission, the albums strangest textures and frequencies finally succumb to this sense of hope, giving way to a wistful melody. IKIGAIs final tracks embody a different kind of heaviness, as Struiwigh dips into her more rhythmic instincts, suddenly returning to forward-motion. Lead single Kokoro reflects the DnB and jungle palette embraced in her more recent work, its heavy, half-step arrangement cultivating a sense of urgency, without overlooking the astral oddness of her experience. Concluding with the title track, the essential work of IKIGAI winds down with a well-earned burst of soundsystem pressure, a purging release born of lifes most difficult and universal processes.

Download ‘IKIGAI’ in MP3, FLAC, and AIFF Formats

Electronica Tracklist

1. Nadia Struiwigh – Hikari Original Mix

   Electronica | 113 BPM | C Minor | 4:55

2. Nadia Struiwigh – Phantom Frequency Original Mix

   Electronica | 152 BPM | E Minor | 3:24

3. Nadia Struiwigh – Kairo Original Mix

   Electronica | 144 BPM | C Minor | 3:20

4. Nadia Struiwigh – Ouroboors Loops Original Mix

   Electronica | 90 BPM | F Major | 4:48

5. Nadia Struiwigh – Kintsugi Machine Original Mix

   Electronica | 84 BPM | C Minor | 4:37

6. Nadia Struiwigh – Debugging The Soul Original Mix

   Electronica | 84 BPM | A Minor | 4:20

7. Nadia Struiwigh – Gaian Original Mix

   Electronica | 120 BPM | Bb Major | 4:13

8. Nadia Struiwigh – Night Changer Original Mix

   Electronica | 84 BPM | G Major | 3:54

9. Nadia Struiwigh – Magnetic Light Magnetic Light Original Mix

   Electronica | 156 BPM | C Minor | 4:49

10. Nadia Struiwigh – 4 4 4 Original Mix

    Electronica | 135 BPM | Eb Minor | 3:41

11. Nadia Struiwigh – Circle The Sun Original Mix

    Electronica | 117 BPM | G Minor | 4:47

12. Nadia Struiwigh – Last Light Transmission Original Mix

    Electronica | 68 BPM | A Minor | 4:16

13. Nadia Struiwigh – Kokoro Original Mix

    Electronica | 108 BPM | D Minor | 5:11

14. Nadia Struiwigh – IKIGAI Original Mix

    Drum & Bass | 81 BPM | A Minor | 4:29

15. Nadia Struiwigh – Hito No Kaze Original Mix

    Electronica | 86 BPM | C Minor | 4:50

16. Nadia Struiwigh – Horizon and Opulence Original Mix

    Electronica | 83 BPM | C Minor | 4:59

Artists on This Release

IKIGAI features tracks by Nadia Struiwigh. Released on Distorted Waves, this Electronica record is available for download in MP3, FLAC, and AIFF formats.