Browsing Tag

Synth Pop

Embrace our transhumanist future with Skylnz Ablze’s electrifying synth wave single, Memory Empty

Posted on 30 October 2023

Even though synth wave is all the rage in 2023, the Chicago-hailing songwriter, producer, and engineer Skylnz Ablze, rode his synth lines into a cut above the rest with the seminally animatronic single, Memory Empty, from his sophomore LP, Born from Electricity, which was crafted to exhibit a new perspective on pop.

By taking influence from electronica pioneers The Human League, New Order and Gary Numan and synthesising the new wave pop aesthetic into one that fizzes with oscillating ingenuity, Skylnz Ablze allowed the transhumanist future that awaits us all to embrace the listener from the very first ensnaring 808 kick to the last.

Memory Empty hit the airwaves on October 13th; stream it on Spotify as part of Skylnz Ablze’s sophomore LP, Born from Electricity.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Get into the euphoric electro-pop groove with Zach Schuh’s synthy and celestial single, Blurry Pictures

Posted on 26 October 2023

Capturing the sweetness of a perfect moment you never want to leave behind, the latest single, Blurry Pictures, from the ever-ascending independent artist Zach Schuh is, somewhat ironically, the perfect polaroid of euphoric gratitude.

The bedroom pop artist who never leaves any clues within his soundscapes to his DIY approach has discernibly mastered the art of song crafting, arranging, producing, mixing, mastering, and visualising emotional experiences to make them universal.

The Cali native’s vibrant style has all the trappings of an infectious electro-pop earworm; the 80s synths lend themselves effortlessly well to the funk-carved grooves that are cut as deep as the most body-rocking hits from Daft Punk, as for his vocal lines, they couldn’t be dreamier. You might want to pinch yourself to make sure you’re awake while you’re being consumed by the ethereal soul of them.

Blurry Pictures was officially released on September 1st; you can get into the kaleidoscopic groove with it by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

ELSKA delivered synthwave redemption in her latest single, Flashback

Posted on 14 October 2023

With an 80s edge as sharp as the one carved by The Human League paired with the same spiritual zeal of Stevie Nicks, the latest single from the ever-ascending Australian pop icon, ELSKA carries enough of the nostalgic new wave feel-good factor to leave you exhilarated by the swells of retro aesthetics, but Flashback is so much more to an ode to seemingly everyone’s new favourite era.

The juxtaposing lyrics reminisce on crying on the bathroom floor – yea, we’ve all been there – while the shimmering aesthetic of the track affectingly attests to how we all have to write our own redemption story, which also goes for survivors of sexual abuse and assault. If the sticky-sweet hooks in the stellar four-to-the-floor bop don’t convince you that dark days don’t set a blueprint for your future, just wait until the harmonies start to layer into a synthesised choir.

Prior to the release of Flashback, ELSKA performed at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, collaborated with the world-renowned Brad Hosking on a track, and became a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. She has come a seriously long way since she made her debut in 2018. We can’t wait to see her make more Olympian strides.

Flashback was officially released on October 6; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MØNA ripped up fabled tropes in her seminal art-pop hit, fairy tale

Posted on 15 September 2023

MØNA opened a portal to a fantastical realm with the otherworldly synth textures in her latest art-pop hit, fairy tale. Around the domineering oscillations of the basslines, theatrical motifs add a histrionically haunted air to the up-tempo release that challenges stereotypical tropes while narrating a complete story, with the singer-songwriter playing the villain protagonist.

After fairy tales become such a principal fixture of childhood and leave us with lofty ideals of how adulthood will unfold, it is hardly a surprise so many of us naively come of age, realise that sometimes the wolf will get us, and discover that white knights are often as nefarious as what they claim they will save us from. Encompassing all this and more, MØNA’s latest single rips up the fabled tropes in artfully beguiling style. We can’t wait to hear what the icon of Avant-Garde pulls out of the bag next.

fairy tale was officially released on August 18; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Zach Haselow brought purity to passion in his synth-pop hit, Rent Free

Posted on 1 September 2023

Get hooked on the reverb-heavy retrowave synth lines in the latest electro-pop hit, Rent Free, from the Alaskan icon in the making, Zach Haselow.

With a soundscape that finds the middle ground between the Weeknd and the Midnight, it is all too easy to get into the lush electronic grooves of Rent Free, which soulfully pays homage to the phenomenon of all-consuming romantic obsession while traversing the insecurities that desire can forcibly manifest.

The humbly sweet hit couldn’t be purer in its passion or more polished in its production; the melodies seem to effervesce around the funk-dripping basslines that will arrest your rhythmic pulses and refuse to let go until long after the fadeout. After spending over a decade perfecting the art of songwriting and producing, Zach Haselow has achieved a sonic signature that is as honed as it is distinctive.

Rent Free made its debut on August 18th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alen Chicco’s RnB Pop hit is anything but just ‘Another Love Song’

Posted on 27 August 2023

If you know exactly how it feels to be caught out as one of love’s fools, the resonance you’ll revel in when the soulfully hair-raising chorus in Alen Chicco’s latest RnB pop single, Another Love Song hits will cut straight to the core.

The definitively 80s synth lines leave the hit awash with lush reverb as Chicco’s dynamic vocal timbre evolves around the tension-fraught build-ups and classic pop crescendos constructed by the funk-laden basslines and atmospheric drum fills.

With some of the juiciest vocal hooks we’ve heard this year, which prove the singer-songwriter’s capacity to incorporate all of the hallmarks of a perennial pop earworm while never compromising on the viscerally raw emotion, the industry should be eating out of the palm of his deft hands and pop fanatic sycophants should be breaking down his door.

Check out the official music video for Another Love Song by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

FanFixion took synth wave into dark unchartered waters with ‘Jackets Domain’

Posted on 19 August 2023

The US-based artist and producer FanFixion surpassed the synth wave trend with his 3-track project, Bleach Bitten, featuring the ensnaringly glitchy standout single, Jackets Domain.

As the emotions run high, the synth lines soak the darkwave score with atmospheric electricity which bridges the gap between new wave synthpop artists such as The Midnight and EBM icons including VNV Nation and Covenant.

With the inventive use of distortion to the hooky vocal melodies to amplify the intrinsic sense of disquietness and rock nuances bleeding into the hit that will leave your heart in your throat as soon as the chorus hits, it is safe to say that FanFixion has been triumphant in his mission to push synth wave into dark unchartered waters.

FanFixion released his 3-track single, Bleach Bitten, on August 11th; stream it in full via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Softmax connects through disjointed isolation in her Lynchian installation of electronica, Swishers

Posted on 9 August 2023
Softmax

Silence fell after the 2022 debut EP, But What If There Isn’t?, from the Chicago-native Softmax; in her time away from the airwaves, she honed her craft and primed herself for her latest single, Swishers.

Co-produced by Joel Ford, of How to Dress Well fame, and Berlin’s premier electronica producer, Gabriel Gifford, Swishers sets a dramatically Lynchian tone to create a dystopian synthpop backdrop for the portrayal of inwardly imploding isolation while everyone falsifies their lives online.

The sentiment is just as resonant as the score orchestrated to depict the agonisingly disjointing feelings. Clearly, Softmax has a talent for reflecting the rawest facets of the human experience back at us. The syncopated beats and oscillating synths paint a portrait of how it feels when black holes of alienation form as a fixture in the arrangement of your bedroom furniture.

In her own words: “It’s about wanting to connect with the world and understand people while feeling further and further from it,”

Swishers will hit the airwaves on August 9th as a courtesy of the London-based indie record label, Psychotic Reaction Music. Stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ell South hit the ground ‘Running’ with her sophomore 80s synth-carved pop single

Posted on 5 August 2023

For her latest single, Running, the endlessly accoladed singer-songwriter Ell South fused ethereal artfulness and synth-carved 80s nostalgia to invite her audience into an aural chamber of honesty, vulnerability, and clarity.

Anyone who has ever known how brutal a battle of wills can be when you are going up against your own mind will see themselves reflected in a crystal-clear mirror when they allow the all-consuming vocal harmonies to take control of their psyche.

The stabbing synth lines with 80s-esque massive percussion and driving basslines give the track the same sense of resilience that radiates from the lyricism, while the lashings of reverb in the poetically illuminating atmosphere will sell sanctuary to the soul – especially the ones weary with ennui.

A certain degree of the authenticity within Ell South’s sound stems from her Welsh and Slovenian roots. She saw music as a right of passage after coming of age in a musical family and clearly came into her own while leaning on an eclectic array of influences.

Since making her debut, her music has featured on BBC Radio Wales, and her debut single launch was performed to a capacity crowd. She’s perceptively on the rise, but something tells us that won’t stop her from reaching out to her fans to lift them when they’re down.

Running hit the airwaves on the 25th of July; you can hear it by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

ARO’s fierce femme aesthetic picked up luscious vehemence in her moody synth-pop single, Let Me Go

Posted on 28 July 2023
ARO

The LA-hailing singer-songwriter ARO singlehandedly defined the future of pop with her debut evocative synth masterpiece, Let Me Go.

With far more soul than your average earworm and her sonic signature scribing distinction through every succinct progression, this emotionally heated hit is the ultimate moody moving-on anthem.

By painting with light and dark tones, the process of coming into your own away from what no longer serves you was euphonically visualised in Let Me Go. With just as much lyrical depth as Mitski and Louise Dacus paired with an electro-pop score that cushions the blows of the sharp lyricism with lush reverb, it is only a matter of time before ARO is considered LA pop royalty.

“So much of my art is about giving the darker parts of myself a platform. There are these aspects of myself that cannot be tamed, and so instead of beating my head against a wall trying to control them I’ve found that my art allows me to be in relationship with them. When I write I’m not butting in to tell them how they should be, I’m not trying to get them to behave, or do better, or have a positive outlook, I’m just letting that part of me speak freely. And I learn a lot about myself through this process.”

Check out Let Me Go on all major streaming platforms from July 28, or hit ARO’s official website for more info.

Review by Amelia Vandergast