Samuel van Dijk is a multi-faceted artist who never stops exploring intriguing contrasts. His music is about meaning as well as movement and it comes under a number of different aliases. Each one takes listeners through a world rich in detailed sound designs, and whether served up as a dynamic live show or tightly woven DJ set, it is best heard in dark and cosy environments. It is in these settings that listeners can get the more immersive possible experience and detach themselves from the noise of everyday life.

VC-118A has honed in on a broken beat, bass-heavy style that comes laden with atmosphere and forward-thinking sound designs. That has been proven across numerous EPs on Tabernacle and Frustrated Funk, as well as four albums. The last two came on Delsin and 2021’s Spiritual Machines was another sublime and coherent fusion of dub, ambient, downtempo, electro and experimental. Live shows are cinematic electro affairs, while DJ sets are fun and adventurous explorations of educated electronic sounds.

van Dijk further broadens his musical horizons through his monthly Chaindata radio show but also enjoys the fresh perspectives that come with collaborating. He has done so with Rasmus Hedlund as Dialog, where the pair explore the interplay between dub music, field recordings and analogue synths, dynamic frequencies and evocative sonic imagery. He has also worked with instrumentalist and composer Sid Hille on the two-part album Metamorphosis, which was infused with his soothing keys and haunting theremin. It is yet another example of van Dijk working with others in order to further himself, to learn more and to level up his sound. Whatever he does, van Dijk never fails to translate his freeform and exploratory approach to music into something with its own sense of beauty, narrative and magic.