Joshua Ben-Dylan (SHUAH) is a multifaceted artist from New York who explores the subtlest emotions and fleeting moments that often elude attention in their works. Through photography, visual art, poetry, film, and music, Joshua creates interdisciplinary art that immerses the audience in a stream of reflections and experiences. Inspired by the ideas of transcendentalism, archetypes of mythology, and the legacy of experimental art pioneers, SHUAH seeks to push the boundaries of the familiar, exploring extremes as a means of discovering the new. In their work, Joshua maintains a balance between chaos and harmony, uncovering layers of human nature and emphasizing the intricate connection between individual feelings and the collective consciousness. Currently, the artist is working on the release of their new album, “COLLECTING DEMONS.”
Photo by @joshuabendylan
Although this much-anticipated musical experiment is scheduled for release in November 2025, we had the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the artist’s creative process and share exclusive details about some of the tracks. Work on the album began after a near-death experience. When the fragility of all existence suddenly became apparent, they turned to music to silence this terrifying reality. In their search for the true essence of the SHUAH genre, they aimed for maximalism while creating this album. Not a single sound or detail was lost in the chaos of creative editing-each became an integral part of the journey toward a cohesive vision. The length of this work is not an ambition but an inevitability, and its scale is born from the depths of despair and strength.
This release contains 57 tracks and spans 3 hours of hyperpop. From the very first sounds of the opening track “LETS LEAVE NYC,” the artist’s unique sound universe is recognizable. They “exploit” electronic sound, taking into account their composer’s background. Continuously playing, it offers a chance to enter SHUAH’s musical world, where the screech of strings, sugary sounds of game moments, and the triumph of the major scale shine blindingly in the melodies of the track. This is the frantic hyperpop of contemporary music-sound maximalism on steroids, where heterogeneous images change chaotically.
In the track “I’m A Sin Too,” the music is light, melancholic, and almost childishly carefree. It is the breath of sleep, where reality intertwines with illusion. There is something ethereal in the sounds – gentle, yet slightly unsettling. The inventive synthesizer parts of the album lift the music somewhere into interstellar space. Here, the light chords and whispering melodies of the track “sleeping beauty” create an atmosphere of intimate revelation, but in this seeming innocence, temptation meets repentance. SHUAH looks beyond the surface in search of someone who also sins, but does so with a trembling beauty. Despite all the confusion, the instrumental parts are clearly defined, with the synthesizer retaining the right to improvise throughout the entire sonic epic. The richness of images, the unconventional- such impressions capture the mind when listening to SHUAH’s music.
For example, “rage induced screaming matches” has the brightest energy. At its core is the untamable force of internal conflict, expressed through chaotic, sharp musical accents. The melodies boil with passion, and the most powerful energetic flows collide. The physiological limit of concentration is the only barrier that prevents one from fully tasting the diversity and richness of the album’s musical fabric on the first listen. This album has several compositions that immediately caught my attention. For instance, “Hit and Run” creates a sonic storm of synthesizer waves and drums, where the commanding saxophone reigns, adding charm and leading the track to its apotheosis.
Photo by @joshuabendylan
In the two-and-a-half-minute “And Then She Rises,” the soloing synthesizer is accompanied by the sound effects of space and the fragmented beat of the drum kit. The track “Rebirth” painted in my imagination reproductions of artists merging the Renaissance era with neomodernism. In its sound, light, icon-like moments are replaced by bold, abstract strokes, like on a canvas where the past meets the future, creating a new perspective on an old reality, and the listening time passes unnoticed. The final ten-minute composition “Hollow Stars Motel Room” stands out with the atmosphere of theatrical electronic sound. Its structure presents a vivid texture, where low frequencies play on sensations, and the saxophone, in its hypnotic manner, merges with the chaos of noise effects. The track absorbs all the sparks of abstraction, turning them into an endless play of sound contrasts.
“COLLECTING DEMONS” is an astonishingly talented album by an inventive and vibrant artist. It’s an excellent album for background listening, capable of creating a pleasant atmosphere of inner balance. Yet, it’s equally compelling to listen to attentively, as SHUAH’s incredible artistry and professionalism provide a unique delight. The tracks are arranged in chronological order, like layers sliced from their former self.
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