Via his personal account on Instagram, Culi. reached out with an inconspicuous message asking if I would like to listen to his debut album. I soon came to find out that there was a whole lot more than an album in the works for the Netherlands-based 22-year-old, a true multi-media artisan who carries around a USB drive necklace with his songs on it, ready to share with willing listeners he meets along the way.
Out on January 23, WHERE_SHADOWS_DON’T_EXIST_ is Culi.’s personal fairytale. Quite literally, the album comes along with a five-page written and illustrated fairytale story, fully crafted by Culi. himself. The story tells of a troubled boy, traveling from a cursed land in search of the place where shadows don’t exist. The album is both directly and indirectly built around this story, consisting of an intricate webbing of personal truths kneaded in with the mystical world of folklore.
On a track-by-track level, this album is a wide array of genres, between hints of indie rock, pop punk, and electronic pop. It’s high energy, emotional, and plays well even for those who listen to the tracks out of order.
However, it’s even more impressive as an album (or project might be the more appropriate word), with its impeccably high-concept aesthetic and four self-directed and edited music videos that showcase the unrelenting methodical creativity that Culi. displays. His motto is “we’re all lost, so let’s be lost together," though this album feels anything but lost.
An entirely self-made artist, Culi. is more than just a phenomenal vocalist, a thoughtful storyteller, and a true multimedia artist; he’s also his own PR person, booking agent, producer, and literally everything else.
I can tell you now that WHERE_SHADOWS_DON’T_EXIST_ has the potential to break Culi. out of the underground scene, but if you want to hear the whole story, you’re just going to have to listen for yourself.
A little more than a week before his album release, I had the honor of sitting down with him (via video chat) to learn more about his process in making this incredible collection of works.
As someone who has only released singles and shorter projects, was there anything about making this album that was more difficult than you expected?
Yes, but it was better, kind of. Working through this big thing makes it really rewarding, but also I have to put out these little fires just to get everything to this one point. You have to fix a lot of things. With singles, you know exactly what you’re going to get.
This is such a conceptual album. How did you make the individual songs stand out as singles within the broader scope of the album?
I debated doing the album non-linear, and scattering the songs around, but I found that it needed to be in order. I also find that if you just listen to one song, you don’t feel like you’re missing out on the rest. I took a lot of inspiration from The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance, which is also a concept album where if you just listen to one song, it doesn’t feel like you’re losing anything. I was already writing the songs before I got the story, so it just flowed that way. I got really ill for three days, and I was playing this video game called Detroit: Become Human, and they were in the snow and this little girl asked “can you tell me a fairytale,” and I thought that would be the perfect way to tell this story. Because it’s just about my life, it already has the story arc.
What is your favorite track off of the album and why?
I think it must be “LOOK_AT_ME_” because I really love the lyrics. I feel like it’s a really long song, but I don’t waste a single second of it. Every part has a reason to exist.
A standout track for me was “HOW_TO_LIVE_FOREVER_”. What was your inspiration behind that track?
That’s the most left-field one on the album, because every other song I started with the lyrics. With that song, it just sounded nice. I kind of wrote it because that singing style feels really nice to sing, and I wanted to do that kind of song. I think that’s why people like it a lot. It’s kind of the only song on the album that’s 100% related to the fairytale. In the fairytale, everything happens three times, and the pre-chorus happens three times, asking a question to be saved. In the story, he asks “can you help me to get to the land where shadows don’t exist” three times.
So there’s something for the new fans, but also something for people who are already really invested in your world.
Yes, you only really find out if you watch the music video. I hold up a flask, and it’s also in the story.
A highlight of this album is your incredible vocal ability. Did you grow up singing?
I had singing lessons when I was really young. I had guitar lessons first and my guitar teacher told me to sing something so I sang some Ed Sheeran. I also went to music school for college.
How did going to music school impact the way you create?
It changed the way I approached music, I guess. At 16 I had this song kind of blow up, and at the time I would write songs thinking I want to be an artist and have fans. During my time at school I found that I just want to make music, and it’s not really about all that. I guess [in school] I found what I want.
Who were your creative influences for this album specifically?
For this album it was really clear. I was listening to The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance, The Bends by Radiohead, and Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins.
Do you have any general artistic influences that a listener would be surprised by?
BROCKHAMPTON. I used to be the biggest fan in high school. I would never share what I liked back then; I would only listen to it on my own in my headphones. The DIY stuff I do maybe stems from them.
I saw that this album was mastered by Eric Lagg, who has many super diverse credits in the music industry. How did you two get connected?
I was just looking at songs and albums that I liked, and there was this one album by Junior Varsity that he mastered. I just emailed him and he said, “Sure, I’ll do it.”
Other than mastering, do you have a team behind you to help you with getting connected to people?
No, it’s just me.
What about help with production?
It’s just me, 100% everything. Writing, production…it’s so personal that I find it hard to put someone else into that creative process. I do have a band for my live songs, but everything else I do, I do where I’m sitting right now.
Then, who did you rely on the most while making this album?
I was kind of shelled in but I think my girlfriend, Jasmijn. We started dating around the time I started writing this album. Having someone to always talk to about the deeper stuff was really helpful. There’s this one song called “ROOM_WITHOUT_WINDOWS_”. Without talking to her I probably wouldn’t have put it on the album.
I saw that you are very staunchly anti-AI. Is there anything else that you stand for as an artist that you want people to know about?
I talk about that a lot because I just want to portray creativity. Not only music—because I do so many things online, I want to make physical things as well, like my barbed wire guitar, or the QR-code digital footprints. I also did all of the drawings for the CD print-out on my sisters iPad.
Who do you hope this album will reach for future collaborations?
I haven’t really collaborated with anyone musically. There’s this one girl called Baileyrp and we are mutuals so we will probably collaborate in the future.
And how about listeners you want to reach?
I just hope this album reaches someone who is like me when I was 12.
What were you like at 12?
I was probably annoying. I was playing a lot of video games, and I was a bit awkward. I hope we get awkward mosh pits at the show.
How did that version of yourself influence you as an artist?
Around that age I was always looking for secret stuff, like Easter eggs. I liked geocaching. I like having those secret moments that only a small group of people can experience.
Is there something about your music videos that people should pay attention to?
Let’s just say that I like mixed media so I make music videos frame-by-frame.
What food did you eat the most while making this album?
Toasties. Bread ham and cheese and you grill it. You get crumbs on your keyboard.
If you've made it this far, you could've already made it through the first few tracks off of Culi.'s debut album WHERE_SHADOWS_DON'T_EXIST_, out on all major streaming platforms January 23rd, 2026.
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