Browsing Tag

80’s Pop

Krystal Scarlet attests that fantasies can come true in her euphonious pop hit, Wonderland.

Posted on 28 December 2022

London-based pop breakthrough artist, Krystal Scarlet, dropped in on the airwaves for the first time since her infectiously vindicating 2021 hit, Won’t Forget, with her new 80s-inspired single, Wonderland, on December 16th. The funky indie guitar chops pop around the snappy percussion and colourfully vibrant electronic synthetics create an uplifting earworm that all too easily takes you to the titular destination.

With pitch-perfect euphonious harmonies, Krystal Scarlet carries the Taylor Swift effect before coming into her own via the authentically indie grooves in the track that will leave you humming to the tune of the fantastical euphoria for days on end.

The track that celebrates the kind of love that can abstract you from your own daydream and take you somewhere even sweeter isn’t one that you can passively let pass you by. Obsession is non-optional.

Wonderland is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lyfe created a disco fever endemic with the euphoric soul in his latest funk-pop single, Tonight

Posted on 16 December 2022
Lyfe

For his latest single, Tonight, the up-and-coming artist, Lyfe, served a potent cocktail of pop, funk, disco, and soul. Rather than evoking nostalgia from one era, the artist, who is dominating more and more of the metaverse with every subsequent release, simultaneously took us to the 60s, 70s and 80s in a dizzying feat of sonic time travel.

While you time-hop through the funk-chopped guitars, glistening piano glissandos and heady four-to-the-floor beat, Lyfe creates collaborative alchemy with the celestially timbered backing vocalists who pour a profound level of euphoric soul into the feverish with disco track.

Each song from Lyfe’s 20-track debut album has its own virtual world in the Metaverse. Before the debut LP, Lyfe founded YXY ODY Studios to create a series of NFT drops and The Odyssey Metaverse. He also deployed one of the biggest virtual concerts yet, with over 40,000 attendees.

Watch this space because Lyfe is about to revolutionise it.

Tonight will officially release on December 16th. Check it out on his official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

80s icon, Rocketball 007 has made a spacey comeback with his single, I Can’t Look at You Enough

Posted on 10 November 2022

Originally formed in the 80s and with multiple 7” records on the Punk Collector’s List, we’re stoked to have Rocketball 007’s latest single, I Can’t Look at You Enough, in our ears.

With a sound frequently assimilated yet rarely authenticated, the synth-driven, spacey-with-romanticism single would be right at home on the Wild at Heart soundtrack. Through the crooning into the reverb vocals and the scintillating retro analog synths, which stab right into the beating heart of the atmospheric release, it imparts ample neon synaesthesia. Any true 80s pop fans will want to jump on I Can’t Look at You Enough like cats on catnip. It isn’t every day that you get to revel in the real visceral deal.

I Can’t Look at You Enough is now on Spotify, and Rocketball 007’s entire discography is available to stream and purchase on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

F/L/P reimagined 80s synthpop in Ride With Ya featuring DAMOYEE 

Posted on 15 October 2022
Norwegian artist F/L/P couldn’t be more of a force to be reckoned with, especially on the basis of his latest single, Ride With Ya, which was written and recorded with the USA artist DAMOYEE over the course of the global lockdowns in bitter-sweet anticipation of the world reopening.
The bass-heavy 80s synth pop track will undoubtedly be a hit with fans of Tame Impala or anyone that can resonate with the overarching themes of isolation and separation. The single efficaciously encapsulates how those yearnings for reconnection can keep us going through the fervid passion in the prominently vivid vocals that dominate the lush sweeping synths that are definitively 80s. The sweetest spot hits with the unexpected but appreciated all the same guitar solo, which riffs even more emotion and gravitas into the synthpop earworm that proves romance isn’t dead, it has simply been isolated.
Ride With Ya is now available to stream on Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast

Meet the 21st-century’s smoothest operator in Alan Dreezer’s latest 80s electro-pop single, BUTTERFLY

Posted on 22 September 2022
https://soundcloud.com/user-773162909/butterfly-downloadable-mp3/s-P2TlQKhHvfd?si=42def2af628748b1a0f7d432a645625d&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Picking up where George Michael left off, Alan Dreezer’s smooth 80s RnB pop hit, BUTTERFLY, is a sensuously aphrodisiacal proclamation of lust that takes no prisoners when pulling you into the intensity of the passion.

Between the layers of lush reverb, the funk-soaked basslines roll around the choppy guitars under Alan Dreezer’s vocal timbre that will teach you the meaning of affection as the soul effortlessly drips.

BUTTERFLY is the first single to hit the airwaves from the East Sussex electro-pop singer-songwriter’s third album, Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes. On the basis of the single alone, there will be no getting in the way of Alan Dreezer’s domination of the airwaves.

BUTTERFLY is due for official release on September 22nd. Check it out for yourselves on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lucy Chan is soulfully cinematic in her latest single, Love Motion Picture

Posted on 22 August 2022

Lucy Chan shared a college fever dream in her latest soulfully cinematic pop track, Love Motion Picture, which runs with escapist references to 90s rom coms, hints of 80s synth pop and a modernist twist to the romanticism.

The 19-year-old singer-songwriter has been a hit with teen pop fans ever since her 2021 single, I Wonder, and her acclaim grows with every subsequent release. Taylor Swift would want to eat her heart out to the dreamy innocent melodicism of Love Motion Picture, We can’t wait to hear what the Australian artist resolvingly releases next.

Love Motion Picture is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Soup and Cigarettes sweetened the sound of summer in their single, ‘Flower Dress’.

Posted on 19 August 2022

Here to make sure that 80s indie pop retains modernity is the Bristol, UK four-piece, Soup and Cigarettes, with their new album, UK DUTY PAID. The standout single, Flower Dress, makes a melodic indie ode to summer with its jangly kaleidoscopically colourful guitars, dreamy vocals, and sticky-sweet synths.

1987 had Sally Cinnamon; in 2022, we have Flower Dress, which effervesces around the lust for amorous life that magnifies in the heat of the summer. Fans of the 1975, PEACE and Jaws will also want to consider Soup and Cigarettes as a playlist staple band.

Check out UK DUTY PAID, which was officially released on August 19th here.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dante Beverley lets the good times roll in his latest funk pop earworm The Party Never Dies

Posted on 10 August 2022

After garnering tens of thousands of streams with his feel-good grooves released since his 2019 debut, the euphorically provocative pop sensation, Dante Beverley has declared The Party Never Dies with his latest single.

The 80s-inspired rhythmic riot exhibits a brand-new sonic signature that you’re going to want scribbled across your playlists; it also sets the tone for his forthcoming EP, due for release in early 2023.

The 22-year-old Rotterdam-hailing singer-songwriter takes influence from the likes of Bruno Mars, The Weeknd and Michael Jackson; notably, his inclination to enliven through disco and funk textures led the way in The Party Never Dies. Oscar Wilde would be proud of his revival of 80s synthy hedonistic pop.

The Party Never Dies is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shanaya gave us the 80s pop anthem to ‘Dance the Night Away’ to

Posted on 3 August 2022

Fleetwood Mac meets ABBA in the up-and-coming pop artist, Shanaya’s debut single, Dance the Night Away, which borrows a few of the iconic 80s tones before turning them into textures which form the artist’s sonic signature.

The orchestral sweeps, popping beats and Shanaya’s yearning for something more vocals pull you right into the essence of the single, which pays ode to those who are worth painting the town red with. A somewhat archetypal concept, yet, there’s a sense of mysticism to Shanaya, which won’t be getting old any time soon.

This upbeat originated debut is a sure sign of even bigger things to come from the rising artist.

Dance the Night Away is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Laura Loh delivered deeply entrenched empathy in her seminal self-produced single, Closer

Posted on 20 May 2022

After releasing her 2020 debut EP, which instantly attracted attention from BBC Introducing, Laura Loh has continued to move into her profoundly empathetic pop own. The Hampshire, UK-based classically-trained vocalist and instrumentalist is fresh from the release of her self-recorded and produced latest single, Closer.

Closer contends with the very real issue of our innate human tendency to put ourselves through the wringer every time we have realised that we aren’t infallible. In a therapeutically intimate way, the alt-pop single lulls you into a state of self-compassion, guided by Loh’s glassy vocals, the ethereal organ layers and massive percussion that aurally shows you the beauty in resilience.

If only all sonic mental health advocacy had the same visceral pull of Closer, we’d be an infinitely more self-actualised society. The deeply entrenched empathy in the single is an evocative bruiser. We can’t wait to hear what follows from Loh’s freshly discovered production boldness.

In her own words, here is what Loh had to say about her latest single:

“Closer is a song about recovery and personal growth, inspired by my experience with mental health; it is a reminder that it is okay to fall and take your time picking yourself back up. We all tend to be too hard on ourselves; I hope this song can encourage people to celebrate the progress they make every day, no matter how small.”

Closer will officially drop on May 20th; hear it on SoundCloud & Spotify.

Follow Laura Loh on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast