Browsing Tag

Retrowave

Jazz meets chiptune in Samuel Weaver’s latest score, Saviour Complex

Posted on 28 August 2023

With touches of House of Fun by the Madness grooving through the polyphonic funk of the jazz & chiptune amalgam, the UK-based artist Samuel Weaver concocted a superfluously ingenuity-driven score for the standout single in his debut album, Telechora!

Hitting play on Saviour Complex may be moderately akin to an acid trip due to the artist’s tendency to delve into sonic novelty despite his discernible composition and instrumental talents, but the euphoria-instilled vibrancy of the soundscape will lift you higher than any tab of acid ever could.

Given that intellectualism oozes from every progression, especially when the dissonance of sufferers with saviour complexes starts to manifest in the funk, at 17 years old, the composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has the music industry at his prodigal feet.

Saviour Complex charged in on its white knight syndrome on August 19th; hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

NY’s Premier Synth-Driven Rock n Roll Outfit, After the Echo, Found a New Way to Ride the Retrowaves in I Like The Way You Do:

Posted on 26 July 2023
Only Stars by After The Echo

The Brooklyn-based synth-driven rock n roll trio After the Echo laid the reverb-drenched retrowave nostalgia on thick in their latest single, I Like the Way You Do.

There are synth & guitar carved crescendo-esque hooks by the smorgasbord in the single that is authentically 80s enough that it sounds like it could have been prised from your favourite 80s flick soundtrack. While the lyrics portray a portrait of irreplicable passion from the perspective of a far-from-perfect protagonist who feels alienated by the world that surrounds them, the dreamy new wave synths and strident guitar hooks will immerse you in the soundscape so deeply you’ll find yourself torn from the 21st century.

Far from your average love song, the songwriting chops that constructed I Like The Way You Do allow romanticism to ooze from the pores of each instrumental, including the sax lines from Mitch Marcus, the pulls of the violin strings from Michael Hunter, and the massive 80s drum fills as a courtesy of the third featuring artist, Dan Caruso.

Stream and purchase I Like The Way You Do, which features on After the Echo’s LP, Only Stars, via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sandor Gavin borrowed from 80s synthpop pioneers in his captivatingly lush synthwave single, Ghost of a Memory ft Weldon

Posted on 27 June 2023

For his latest single, Ghost of a Memory, the Synthwave sensation, Sandor Gavin, borrowed the mesmeric vocal timbre of the featuring artist, Weldon, to leave the airwaves awash with nostalgia, emotion, and captivatingly lush melodies.

There is a strange assumption amongst artists and producers that when summer hits everyone is drunk on love and desperate to hear anthems which capture the euphoria of lust. Thankfully, Sandor Gavin injected realism into his latest synthwave crusade to help his audience through the minefield of lost love and shattered dreams.

The relatability of his crushed romanticism does so much more than just scratch at the surface of superficiality. Everything within Ghost of a Memory runs deep, from the basslines to the ennui to the reverberant hums emanating from the vocals, ensuring that the bitter-sweet release hits all the right marks.

Ghost of a Memory hit the airwaves on June 16; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Take a trip with GeoMike122’s synthwaves in ‘Mode’

Posted on 8 June 2023

Ride the synthwaves in GeoMike122’s latest single, Mode, right through the 80s nostalgia and into the electrifying escapism the alt-electro single provides. The trippy tendencies of the pulsating basslines are only amplified by the official music video, which distorts reality as much as the oscillating trance-y EBM beats and synths that put a myriad of EDM genres under heel to knock you off an even keel.

When GeoMike122 isn’t orchestrating alchemy in his studio and allowing his audience, affectionally dubbed ‘the travellers’, to sonically arrive at new destinations, he’s sating his desire for wanderlust or enriching minds by the more conventional means of being a teacher. Mode is a scintillating convergence of his adventurous tendencies; grab your passport and sink into the cinematic sci-fi-esque tones.

Check out the official music video for Mode, which premiered on May 15, via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Synth yourself to sleep with Curtis Melton’s Firefly Lullaby

Posted on 14 May 2023

The endlessly accoladed American composer, conductor and music educator Curtis Melton dusted off his analogue synths to orchestrate the ultimate instrumental soundtrack to synth yourself to sleep.

Firefly Lullaby is a definitively 80s ambient score with majestic overtones that invite you into a scintillating fantasia of pop and romanticism-soaked synthwave; insomnia doesn’t stand a chance against the glistening motifs and crescendos that are endlessly efficacious in their ability to allow your subconscious to take the lead.

His sonic scores are achievements standing alone. In addition to them, in 2015, he was nominated for “Best Original Score” at the Idyllwild International Film Festival, in the same year, he won “Best Original Song” at the Las Vegas 48 Hour Film Festival. He was named a finalist in the Ravel Association International Soundtrack Competition in Italy in 2016, and was named a semi-finalist in The American Prize Composer Competition in 2018 for his original works “The Genesis Effect” and “Forever Through The Fire”.

Firefly Lullaby hit the airwaves on May 1; hear it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Mermaids have made their sensual synthwave debut with ‘L’auntre’.

Posted on 25 April 2021

Stockholm’s indie synth-pop outfit The Mermaids have made their debut with the atmospherically sensual bi-lingual track, ‘L’auntre’. Any fans of the Midnight, Gunship, Wolf Club, St. Vincent or any other act experimenting with retro-inspired chillwave tones will want to delve into the ambience of the polyphonically immersive single.

With the glassy notes brushing up against the moody pulsating throbs of the bassline in the unapologetically 80s-inspired mix, L’auntre is contemporary as synthwave gets, which undoubtedly puts The Mermaids in good stead for success in the future. You’ll want them on your radar with chilled summer nights being not too far in the distance.

L’auntre is now available to stream via Spotify.

Connect with the Mermaids via Facebook. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Yahn – Coming Home: Shimmering Spacey Synthwave Pop

Posted on 6 January 2020

Up and coming artist and producer Yahn ended 2019 by dropping their fourth single “Coming Home”. In doing so they gave us one more reason to get excited about their analogue approach to catharsis.

Expect shimmering, spacey Synthwave which flirts with elements of futurism. But the true essence of the single lies in the nostalgia of those 80s inspired soaring synth notes which carve out quintessentially captivating melodies.

Coming Home may be an instrumental score, but there’s no discernible lack of emotion or feeling thanks to the veracity of the effervescent energy which pours from the soundscape.

You can check out Yahn’s latest single Coming Home for yourselves via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Izzy Spint – The Power of God and Anime: Rap Meets Pop Meets Experimental Synthwave

Posted on 6 January 2020
https://izzyspint.bandcamp.com/track/the-power-of-god-and-anime

Atari Teenage Riot fans are going to want to check out Izzy Spint’s insanely fresh Synthwave single “The Power of God and Anime”.

The delectable mash of Pop, Hip Hop, Rap, and experimental Electronica is more than a perennial earworm. It’s a thunderously infectious progressive hit which constantly throws dizzying aural curveballs your way.

The harmonically melodic Pop choruses amongst the harsh discordant chaos are quite frankly ingenious. The Power of God and Anime isn’t just a track which you can get on board with. It’s one that you can quite easily get obsessed with. Izzy Spint is definitely an artist to watch.

You can start your love affair with Izzy Spint’s experimentalism by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast