Catherine Moan teams with Primer to pen an instant classic with their recent My Heart. The legacy of classic synthwave lives on in this perfect period piece. As if you’ve pulled a long lost classic out of the dollar bin at your local record shop, the stylistic truth of My Heart is undeniable. It’s the sentiment that pulled Synthwave into the forefront. It connects with the movements founders like Sebastian Gampl and FM-84 who’s catalogs are ripe with stylistic clues.
Singer Catherine Moan takes us back. Like a dusty Christine McVie fronting Human League, Moan’s soft delivery is humble and charming. She never oversings, but the strength resonates in how she masterfully hangs long notes without ever faltering the pitch. Primer never strays far from the stylistic palette, injecting precise sonic choices and masterful syncopation with effortless conviction. Ironically their contrasting hair colors recall the iconic Heart, as the duo nails all the image marks needed to satisfy an intrusive manager. For us its a breakout single with full scale flare. The music, the look, and the voice all accentuate the vibe at the core of the songs ethos.
Enjoy My Heart now on our Best New Synthwave Playlist.
Retrofuturism is alive in the music of Paultra Violet. Exemplified in the recent single Honesty I Always Knew, it imagines how 80s pseudo punk new wave vibes might have evolved if major labels funded this vibe through the grunge revolution of the early 90s. The 80s hit a wall when public sentiment turned on synth pop, eager to reclaim the organic presence of classic rock, only to have to wait an entire decade for indie rock to bring some truth back to the genre only to find out that the music industry was temporarily dead.
How might the influence of Depeche Mode or Pet Shop boys evolved if it were embrace by a new young generation of reckless electric punks? Paultra Violet gives us a taste, with fresh lyrics and innovative compositional movements that show an inclination towards catchy melodies within a philosophy of unconvention. It connects with more modern releases by LCD Soundsystem and TV On The Radio with raw and reckless dance floor spirit. It feels inspired and nurtured by an upbringing known to local punk scenes and peer pressured angst. It should be embraced by retrowave fans looking to break away from a retro pop takeover, inclined to prefer new wave post punk crossovers to the glitter glam of pop.
Dig into Honestly I Always Knew now on our Best New Indie Synthwave Playlist.
KTEE is sultry on her new single The One. Electro Pop with a retro heart, the single is full of swagger and attitude. The single connects with recent mega hits in pop that drip with nostalgia. KTEE connects with superstars like The Weeknd and Dua Lipa in how she embraces a retro aesthetic and updates it with modern flair. It’s no wonder that The One features Drew Jurecka who also worked as a violinist with Dua Lipa on Future Nostalgia.
KTEE shares Lipa’s star power, with rare devilish looks and an undeniably sexy delivery that pulls the listener in. But it’s not just all seductive musical foreplay, KTEE has very real vocal skills and knows how to lean into the retro flavor of The One’s design. In that way she recalls icons like Madonna and even Britney Spears. Offering a new narrative about falling in love with the wrong one without realizing it, The One has widespread potential. It’s a liberating dance club classic that’s refreshingly personal, calling you to dance your heartbreak away in the spirit of 80s teenage obsession.
Enjoy The One now on our Best New Indie Synthwave Playlist.
Wes Walls is a revelation on Until The World Gets Better. The catchy infectious drop out of the intro section pulls you in with you melodic delight. Wes Walls is all about a vibe, and the trademark snap of the snare and nostalgic tempo recalls unassuming 80s pop influence. This is the soulful pop known to Whitney Houston mixed with the blue eyes soul of 80s Steve Winwood. It’s a byproduct of R&B, rooted in Gospel and integrated into pop long before the 80s came to be.
Wes Walls embraces that ethos, nurturing the sentiment of spiritual liberation that this style exudes. It’s all relative to the projects revival, as Wes had stepped away from songwriting for years. Coming back to reclaim his truth, its no wonder he resolved to this style of retro pop. It’s that feeling of release that keeps us coming back for more, the timeless decade under appreciated in its time, but now forever melded into the legacy of pop.
Hear Until The World Gets Better now on our Best New Indie Synthwave Playlist.
The Wild Is Calling 