In the age of social media, maintaining your anonymity is no mean feat. But in the case of masked electronic duo Two Shell, it’s a huge part of their appeal. The British artists have been building a steady underground fanbase thanks to their online antics, along with a sound that incorporates futuristic melodies and quips amongst a congregation of familiar UK electronic bass patterns and drums.
Last week, they unveiled their latest stunt, which involved a rock being sold as merchandise on their website and a cover of Robbie Williams’ 2000 hit “Rock DJ”, titled “I Just Want a Rock”. As fans started to buy the rocks at their original price of £5, their value began to increase, until they were finally listed on Two Shell’s website for £250.
After jokes rooted in truth of fans “lawyering up” if they don’t receive any new music with “the boring rock”, people began to receive their packages. Buyers had to actively break apart the rock to find a USB hidden inside with over 20 tracks on it, much to the relief of their patrons, now just waiting for their own rocks to arrive.
The rock is the latest in the long line of stunts. At gigs and festivals such as Primavera Sound in Barcelona, they have been known to entirely pre-record their sets and simply pretend as though they are using the mixing equipment. Fans often speculate whether they are behind the decks at all, or if they are in fact sending imposters, as late rapper MF DOOM was once accused of doing.
And like MF DOOM, their anonymity frequently divides opinion. Indeed, it’s a huge part of their charm. By encouraging their fans to play guessing games, Two Shell bring some much-needed fun and intrigue to an industry that delights in plastering the faces of its stars across any surface it can find. As Michael Hann observed in The Independent earlier this year: “At a very basic level though, in an age of instant information – when you can go on social media and find out where your favourite musicians are, what they’re doing, what they’re eating for breakfast – there’s something oddly satisfying about returning to an age of minimal information.”
Two Shell first emerged in 2019 with their debut EP, Access. Taking cues from minimal house and redolent of producers such as Burial, tracks such as “Heart Piece” place distorted vocoder samples amid synth stabs and warehouse-ready drums. They followed this up with 2020’s Touchpad, which laid the groundwork for the sound fans are familiar with today. On the title track, staccato vocal samples and an over percussed drum line is met with groovy melodies that are far more developed for the dance-floor than their previous release.
Then, in 2021, they scored one of their biggest hits with the single “Home”, a buzzy concoction that sampled CHINAH’s 2015 indie-pop song “Away From Home” then paired it with bubbling synths and speedy drum breaks, spinning it around like a hyperpop umbrella. This left-field sound landed right in the middle of a viral trend for “sped-up” versions of songs and earnt a spot-on DJ sets by bigwigs including Four Tet, Ross From Friends and Jamie XX.
If Two Shell fans were bees, the shell.tech website would be their hive. There, new listeners can access their music using passwords shared throughout YouTube comments and online forums – or simply by guessing. With enough virtual crate digging, fans can also be enchanted by Two Shell remixes of artists ranging from Avril Lavigne to Sugababes and Kings of Leon. Whether this product is in keeping with music copyright laws remains to be seen.
Two Shell rarely do interviews. Their first one was conducted on their website “through the stilted intimacy of text-only chat” and disappeared from The Face website after an online timer set for 12 hours counted down to zero. Spontaneous releases are not uncommon with the duo. The tracks on their website and their songs posted to Bandcamp are frequently wiped as fans are left with a sense of wondering whether they will get their digital mitts on their favourite edit. But does this risk their loyalty? So far, it seems not.
Two Shell— (The Lot Radio)
The digital age of music has many flaws. But it has also allowed the weird and wonderful to flourish, creating a playground in which artists are free to experiment at will. Two Shell have embraced this, delighting in the fact that they can maintain an element of surprise with their work. Regardless of whether they choose to keep the masks on, it won’t hide the talent that keeps fans coming back for more.
