Watch a short video on Surgeon's album Shell~Wave

Behind the Artwork: Surgeon and Jazz Szu-Ying Chen's Creative Process

The 35-minute documentary, released by Tresor Berlin in December 2025, captures a June video call between Anthony Child and Taiwanese visual artist Jazz Szu-Ying Chen. Their conversation traces how Chen's intuitive drawings—inspired by Rococo frames, seashells, corals, and deteriorating ocean forms—evolved into the album's high-resolution metallic vinyl artwork printed at 500 DPI.

From Intuition to Print

Directed by Felix Moser, the film reveals practical choices: how Shell~Wave earned its name from water-like movement in the visuals, which tracks like 'Serpent Void' and beatless closer 'Dying' mirror sonically. Recorded in late 2024 during personal upheaval—Surgeon's father was nearing death—the tracks' heavy delays and psychedelic textures find organic counterparts in Chen's bubbles and shell fragments, uniting sound and image through shared themes of decay and transcendence.

What Shell~Wave Adds to Surgeon's Catalog

Shell~Wave arrives as Surgeon's first full-length since 2023's Crash Recoil, deepening his exploration of dub-inflected modular techno. The nine-track album—featuring standouts like 'Serpent Void', 'Soul Fire', and the beatless vocal piece 'Dying'—blends heavy delays, psychedelic echoes, and industrial lineage with transcendent dancefloor immersion.

Visual Symbiosis with Jazz Szu-Ying Chen

The release pairs Anthony Child's emotive sound with striking artwork by Taiwanese artist Jazz Szu-Ying Chen, documented in a 35-minute Tresor video. Recorded via video call in June 2025, the conversation traces their collaborative process: Chen's intuitive drawings of shells, corals, and oceanic decay rendered at 500 DPI for metallic vinyl printing, echoing the album's themes of movement and deteriorating forms. Recorded in autumn 2024 with minimal gear during a period of personal loss, the album's organic-digital aesthetic captures Surgeon's evolution as a veteran pushing beyond conventional dub-techno.

The Ocean-Inspired Visual Language

The album's visual identity emerged from a transatlantic creative dialogue between Surgeon and Taiwanese artist Jazz Szu-Ying Chen, documented in Tresor's 35-minute video. Their June 2025 video call—directed by Felix Moser—traces the artwork's evolution from initial concepts to high-resolution metallic vinyl printing at 500 DPI.

Shells, Corals, and Deteriorating Forms

Chen's intuitive drawing process channels oceanic imagery: seashells, bubbles, coral structures, and water movement rendered in organic-digital hybrids. The artist references Rococo frames and deteriorating natural forms, creating visuals that mirror Surgeon's delay-drenched modular sound. The collaboration's title itself emerged organically during their discussions, capturing the album's fluid, immersive aesthetic. The video offers rare access to how technical craft—from Chen's stylus work to vinyl production specifications—serves emotional resonance, uniting two disciplines under a single subaquatic vision.

Why This Collaboration Matters for Electronic Music

Bridging Sound and Vision

Shell~Wave exemplifies techno's collaborative potential by fusing Surgeon's dub-inflected modular explorations—recorded during personal upheaval in fall 2024—with Jazz Szu-Ying Chen's organic-digital artwork inspired by shells, coral decay, and oceanic motion. The 35-minute Tresor documentary captures their intuitive creative dialogue, from Rococo frames to 500 DPI metallic vinyl printing, revealing how visual and sonic intuition converged without preconception.

For a veteran with three decades anchored in industrial lineage (Throbbing Gristle, Coil), the pairing pushes beyond dub-techno conventions into transcendent, album-focused artistry. Tresor's rare behind-the-scenes insight reinforces Surgeon's momentum post-Crash Recoil (2023), spotlighting collaboration as central to electronic music's evolution—not mere packaging, but unified aesthetic born from shared vulnerability and technical rigor.