Synthwave (also futuresynth, outrun, retrowave) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominately on the music associated with action, science-fiction, and horror film soundtracks of the 1980s. Other influences are drawn from that decade's art and video games. Synthwave musicians often espouse nostalgia for 1980s culture and attempt to capture the era's atmosphere and celebrate it.
History[]
In the early 2010s, the synthwave soundtracks of films such as Drive and Tron: Legacy attracted new fans and artists to the genre. Drive featured Kavinsky's "Nightcall" and, with College, "A Real Hero", which catapulted synthwave into mainstream recognition and solidified its stature as a music genre. The genre's popularity further increased thanks to its presence in the soundtracks of video games like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, as well as the Netflix series Stranger Things, which featured synthwave pieces that accommodated the show's 1980s setting. Nerdglow's Christopher Higgins cited Electric Youth and Kavinsky as the two most popular artists in synthwave in 2014.
Subgenres[]
- Lofisynth
- Dreamwave
- Chillsynth
- Sovietwave
- Darksynth
- Bodysynth
- Cybersynth
- Synthpop
Notable artists[]
- Pertrubator
- Carpenter Brut
- Gunship
- Moon
- The Midnight
- Kavinsky
- Mega Drive
- Power Glove
- College and Electric Youth
- Com Truise
- Allison
- Zane Alexander
- Saint Seduce
- Scandroid
- Zombienick
- Healer
- Jan Hammer