On the face of it, you wouldn’t expect a collaboration album like “Wavefinder” to be so brilliant. Sure, both Sferro and Makeup and Vanity Set (MAVS) have honed their superb synth skills for over a decade – but their production styles are vastly different.

Sferro’s work is decidedly digital, featuring brilliant melodies driven by a disco heartbeat. MAVS, on the other hand, has honed his analog feel – slicing through soundtracks and albums alike with a keen edge of atmosphere.

So, I expected “Wavefinder” to be good – even great, given the sheer experience and quality of musicianship from these two artists. Truthfully though, I also expected some fragmentation – a certain disjointed feeling that is frequently noticeable with similar collaboration albums. It’s a sad fact that often when artists collaborate, there is a clash. Sometimes it’s ego, sometimes it’s production style, or wanting to go in different conceptual directions. Sometimes the final tracks just seem out of order. After listening to dozens and dozens of collabs, I can tell you there’s always something…

“In a lot of ways… the music sort of… tells me what it needs, you know? Then I just sort of let it happen.”

But then, as the first remarkable ripples of “Wavefinder” washed over me, I realized this record is something special. There is no clash – in fact, the opposite is true. The diverse styles of Sferro and MAVS complement one another in a unique way, merging into a gestalt of splendid sonic bliss that neither producer would have likely created on their own. From the initial vox-like trill of ‘Cursors’ to the final 90s-infused ambient decay of ‘Do You Really Want An Answer,’ every track on “Wavefinder” is truly exceptional.

MAVS + Sferro Wavefinder Vinyl From Stratford Court Records

Between syncopated kicks and stuttering hi-hats, there is a tangible atmosphere that pulls you in, demanding your attention. Brilliant polyphonic melodies emerge in perfect counterpoint to thick, juicy basslines – all punctuated by eccentric synth stabs that give the tracks an intense sense of movement and groove. And, of course, all of these elements are masterfully mixed and mastered. All of these different elements complement one another perfectly – much like Sferro and MAVS – and the end result sounds magical.

Throughout the album, there is a pervasive 90s nostalgia feel – which makes sense considering Sferro revealed during our interview that several of the tracks were actually outtakes  “Emotion Engine.”  Often the synth leads or stabs are also just slightly detuned, filtered with the analog wow and flutter warble of a VHS cassette in a very similar technique used in MAVS’ latest EP, “Gradient Ultra.” (Both of those releases made our yearly top 10 lists in 2021 and 2022 – and you should absolutely listen to them if you haven’t already!)

But, for MAVS and Sferro, that lush analog sound was not infused into “Wavefinder” for the often-cited stereotypical reason of feeling “warm” or “fat” – but instead to add a sense of organic decay and randomness. Chance.

“Anytime I can add unpredictability, I’m surprised by what it’s doing…” MAVS related in the same interview. “In a lot of ways, [through analog effects] the music sort of… tells me what it needs, you know? Then I just sort of let it happen.”

Makeup and Vanity Set at Human Music 2

Surprisingly, Sferro also related that although his workflow is digital, chance plays a large role in his production as well. “I can’t really explain it, but it happens to me digitally as well, because my computer sold. Like every render, dude… every render is different.”

“I don’t want to do the typical synthwave stuff anymore. I’ve done that beat and that to death… so the early 2000s, late 90s kind of thing – that’s what seemed attractive to me.” – Sferro

Perhaps most surprising is that MAVS and Sferro had never created together before, in spite of growing up within a few miles of one another in northern Ohio. In fact, the closest they had come to working together was when they both independently created tracks for the Demin’s “Initiate (Remixes)” – which happened to be very important to the genesis of “Wavefinder.”

Demin’s work sounds a lot like a sort of shimmering Com Truise. In fact, when “Initiate” was released, it led many to speculate that Demin may actually be a side project of Seth’s. This rumor is false, of course – as MAVS related perfectly in our recent interview, “…having talked to Seth over the years, I know that he’s into drum and bass and other stuff…. it would be weird for him to just do another thing that sounds like Com Truise.”

In fact, that sound – the Com Truise sound – is quickly becoming it’s own small microgenre called “Datawave,” Similar to how HOME’s work spawned Chillsynth. After working on the Demin tracks seperately, MAVS and Sferro thought that datawave sound would be perfect for “Wavefinder.”

“I didn’t want to deviate in the remix too much from [Demin’s] sound because I liked the sound. I was curious about the ‘datawave’ space…. so I just sort of leaned into that for the remix…and… it felt good. [Later] when I started to dig into the stuff [Sferro] had sent me, it just seemed like the logical progression, like the place to go. You always want to do something that’s exciting to you…and in that moment, that was what was exciting.”

Sferro at Neon RetroFest

But, in spite of finding inspiration in the Com Truise / datawave sound, no part of “Wavefinder” feels pastiche. Instead, the entire sound feels somehow new again – like re-experiencing your favorite movie for the first time. (Or, in my case, my favorite album.) That… genuine feeling – I think that’s what makes “Wavefinder” feel so special. At times it feels like so much synthwave today has been over-produced and polished into nothing but a rose-tinted mirror. It’s so incredibly refreshing to hear two old-guard synth artists creating sounds so new and fresh.

Like I said in the beginning of this review, it’s rare to find a release that reminds me of why I started writing about music in the first place. Those are nice words, sure – but what does that really mean? Well, the reason why I started writing about music was because I wanted to share the music that I loved with as many people as possible – and that sort of sums up how I feel about “Wavefinder.”

I love it.

Top tracks: “Hit Bit,” “Rubber City,” “Memory Screen,” and “Wavefinder.”

But, believe it or not, this brilliant collaboration almost slipped through the cracks of history. Heck, even this interview almost didn’t happen!

“…would it be possible to reschedule the call for tomorrow? Eric’s been out of commission today with a migraine…” – Makeup and Vanity Set (hereafter referred to as MAVS)

My heart sank. I’d been interested in interviewing these two “reclusive” synth pioneers (separately) for years. But the truth is, in spite of MAVS infamous robber mask and Sferro’s disdain for being photographed, neither of them are truly reclusive. They’d just rather focus on what really matters – creating music – instead of being a “brand.” MAVS is also notoriously busy, often working on multiple film soundtracks and albums at once.

Sferro’s Only Known Photograph – Trust Me, I looked!

All that work and a surprise bout of COVID almost stopped this album from being produced. Thankfully, sometimes the stars align even in this, the darkest of timelines. Never say never.

Looking back it was kind of like a very nice,  “…you blew it.” – MAVS

So, what was the genesis of the album? How did you two come to work together?

Sferro: “I reached out to Matt just to see if he was busy…. if he had time to maybe do a track. I thought it was just gonna be a single track…and yeah, he’s a very busy guy so it took a while.”

MAVS: “I had a million things going on – and I just sort of sat on it. It was totally my fault. He had followed up a few times, and I said “I still want to do it!” but… it just kept slipping to like the bottom of the stack.”

I’ve loved Eric’s stuff for so long – and we have the Ohio connection – and I thought this would be super cool to do. So finally I scratched out some time and I sat down one day and did a track…and immediately after, I got COVID. So I was bedridden for a week, and Eric DM’d me on Instagram and said, “Hey, man if you’re not gonna do anything with these tracks, I think I’m just gonna… uh, finish them.” Looking back it was kind of like a very nice,  “…you blew it.”

Sferro: *Laughter*

MAVS: “So I replied back and was like, “NO no, no, no, no – I did one! I did one!” and I sent him a dropbox link and he was really into it. I got better from COVID, and we just… kept going. After that the record itself came together super fast. I mean, it took like three weeks.”

That’s a great story! But what’s this “Ohio connection”? I’m from Ohio myself.

MAVS: It’s funny, Eric and I have never met in person – but he actually lives in [Northern Ohio,] which is where I’m from. He’s actually super close to where my family lives.

Sferro: We had no idea until he posted a picture while visiting and I was like, “Oh Shit you’re like two minutes away from my house!”

MAVS: *Laughs* “Yeah, so we had flirted a few times by having our remixes featured on the same album. More recently we were both on the Demin Initiate (Remixes) album – but yeah we’d never worked together properly before this one.

A lot of people seem to think Demin’s work is actually a Com Truise side project.

MAVS: “I don’t know man…Having talked to Seth over the years, I know he’s into drum and bass and some other stuff. It would be kinda weird for him to just do another project so close to his sound, sonically.”

That tracks. So, other artists have started making more music in that “Com Truise” style and calling it “Datawave” – and your new album “Wavefinder” definitely seems to fit that category. Was that intentional? what’s your take on that?

MAVS: “Don’t get me wrong, I love Seth’s work – and the idea wasn’t just to make something derivative… But we had just finished the Demin remixes, and…man, I really loved Demin’s track. I didn’t want to deviate too much in the remix… because I just liked the sound. I was curious about it. I had never done anything in the sort of “Datawave” space.

The last couple records I’ve been working on have also been masted by Ben Braun – Hotel Pools. I’m a big fan of his music. So, I started listening to a lot more chillsynth… and one of the things I thought was really interesting about it is that the tempos are way slower… I started to think about the fact that it really took my back to my roots-roots. Like, as a kid, finding Autechre… you know, all those guys were Hip Hop guys. And I feel like, chillsynth, datawave, these kinds of artists have a similar root. They have one foot in that genre – that kind of “head nod” feeling. There’s something appealing about that.

So no, it wasn’t like, “Hey this sounds like datawave” – that was the last thing on my mind. It was more that I just enjoyed going back…so I thought, “How can we slow this down even more?” And then the when you slow things down, the resolution gets a little wider. So you can suddenly like, bit more, you know, interesting things and have more interesting sort of syncopation happening musically.

So later on when I started to dig into the stuff Eric had sent me, it just seemed like the logical progression, like the place to go. You always want to do something that’s exciting to you – you know? And so in that moment, that was what was exciting.”

I also felt like there were some strong 90s references in “Wavefinder,” and you seemed to have really delved into the 90s vibes on “Emotion Engine” too. Was that move away from the 80’s intentional – or a sort of spontaneous occurrence like the “datawave” sound?

Sferro: “I will say that at least one, maybe two of the tracks were actually “Emotion Engine” outtakes I had sent over…but [in general, it does feel like a progression.] I definitely don’t want to do the typical synthwave stuff anymore. I’ve done that, beaten that to death. It just kind of felt right and it’s what seemed attractive to me: an early 2000s, late 90s kind of thing.

I don’t think the next Sferro album will be datawave though. I think “Wavefinder” is really awesome, and I think it’s awesome as a collaboration – but I don’t think I’ll explore that direction myself. It’s not the direction I want to go. I think I’m going to lean more heavily toward the early 2000s kinda… well, you’ll see in the new Hyperlinked Dream Sync album! It’s more like, Portishead-y.

“I definitely don’t want to do the typical synthwave stuff anymore. I’ve done that, beaten that to death. It just kind of felt right and it’s what seemed attractive to me: an early 2000s, late 90s kind of thing.” – Sferro

BUT, I do think datwave is awesome. The term is still kinda fresh to me… honestly I only recently heard of it when we started making [Wavefinder.]”

Eric, you’ve mentioned in interviews that your workflow is mostly digital – and Matt, you seem to mostly like analog – or as you like to say, “Play with the noodles.” Did those difference cause any conflict?

MAVS: “First of all, in spite of the room around me, I’m not an analog purist. Whatever works, you know? If you can make cool stuff in GarageBand, go for it. I’m not precious about that. What’s exciting to me is figuring out new ways to approach a workflow.

MAVS In His Studio

Anyway, Eric had sent me fully formed ideas… that I thought was really cool, I dug it. But, it was different that what I’m used to and I had to totally reorient my thought process. I had to come out of that comfort zone and be challenged a little bit by someone else’s thought process – sonically.”

It was awesome trying to experiment while still being reverent to it too. It was it was fun – I had a blast working on it!”

“I’ve put out a lot of records, and when you go through that process, there’s always at least one thing that totally shits the bed….but with this one, none of that happened.”

Sferro: “That reminds me – at one point Matt was saying, “I think we need a couple songs in here without drums…” So I’d send some stuff over without drums… and then drums ended up on it. It just had to have it.”

MAVS: “Right? …Other times he would add stuff on the back end and send it back…. It was a total democracy the whole way through. We were just trying to make something that was exciting to the two of us.”

It sounds like perfect match! Was there anything that caused conflict? You know, caused some sort of problem?

MAVS: “The thing came together in a way that was the least forced, you know, like it, it all happened really fast, it all felt really good!”

Sferro: “That reminds me of one track in particular, I sent a demo over and said “Uh…I don’t know if this will work…. And Matt said “Never say never!” and then sent it back – and it sounded sick!”

MAVS: “Right? I gotta say… I’ve put out a lot of records, and when you go through that process, there’s always at least one thing that totally shits the bed. You’re forced to work with an artist you don’t want to work with, or you can’t release on a certain date, or there’s a huge backorder on vinyl…”

Right? Thanks Adele! 

MAVS + Sferro: *Laughter*

MAVS: “…but with this one, none of that happened. We went back and forth and thought, “Okay, we have an album here.” Then we sent it off to Ben Braun [Hotel Pools] to get it mastered, and that guy just knows how to make bass happen in ways that, well, I’m both comfortable and uncomfortable with! Then we started talking to Andrew from Stratford Court. Stratford Court was almost a shot in the dark… [I’m] a huge fan of the label. It’s so well curated. We waited a while, and then Andrew reached out and said he’d love to do it!”

And honestly, I was floored. I hadn’t sent it anywhere else, but I had a list of [labels]… I just figured you know, Stratford Court to me was like swinging for the fences…and there’s no preorder. It’s all ready to go on Friday.” [Today]

MAVS + Sferro Wavefinder Vinyl From Stratford Court Records

Sferro: “I really love how “into” the record [Andrew] seems. Every time he replies to an email he says how he’s like… ‘really excited about this.’ It’s so cool – it’s awesome!

I’m excited too – and not to spoil the review, but I really think this album is special. Do you two think you’ll be working together in the future?

MAVS: It’s funny with this record, this is the most PR I’ve done for a record in a long time. But I think it’s just because I’m proud of the thing we made, you know? I want to make sure that we do our due diligence to Stratford and present it to the world in the right way.

Really.. I’m just, I’m happy to make music. I’m happy to be able to process the all of the shit that’s happening around us through music…and I’m super happy to have somebody like Eric to collaborate with…

Sferro: “Likewise!”

MAVS: “…and to you know, to see it, see it go out into the world man. It’s all good at this point. So I’m just happy to be here.”

Sferro: “I mean, I have ideas for the future. Things I’ll bring up to Matt eventually, in due time.” *Laughs* But I’m just super stoked we got the opportunity to do this. Matt’s fucking awesome. He’s a super chill dude. I’ve loved his music forever. And it’s cool that some OG’s Got to work together. So… I’m stoked.

So perhaps this isn’t the end for this dangerous duo?

Sferro: “Never say never.”

Editors Note: There is so, so much more to this interview. Both MAVS and Sferro discussed their creative evolution, how they came to find electronic music and two kids stuck in Ohio, and how the digital age affects nostalgia, and their own approach when it comes to organic-feeling synthesis. For more of that, keep an eye out for my upcoming review of “Wavefinder” after it drops!

9. John Mint – Modern Appeal

8. Com Truise – Arwarw

7. Kavinsky ft. Cautious Clay – Renegade

6. Arcade High – Glow

5. Phaserland ft.Glitbiter – Space Glide

4. Cinnamon Chasers – Lightchaser

3. Niky Nine ft.6S9– Warr

2. Starcadian – Neonhead

1. Waveshaper – The Phantom Machine

10. Artist – Yossarian Yo
AWITW – Looking Back

9. Art Direction and Graphic Design – George Gold Design
3D Illustration – 3am_Render
Nightcrawler – Visionary 

8. Artist – Eyebodega
Eyeliner – BUY NOW (Deluxe Edition)

7. Artist – Master Boot Record
Master Boot Record – Floppy Disk Overdrive

6. Artist – Brouemaster Visual Decay
Baldocaster/Traveler CS – Exodus/Solare (Double LP)

5. Artist – Atom Cyber
DEADLIFE – City of Eternal Rain

4. Artist: Com Truise
Com Truise – In Decay, Too

3. Artist – STRNGR / Andrew Tremblay
STRNGR – Bumping Uglies

2. Artist – Luca Carey
Dan Terminus – Last Call For All Passengers

1. Artist – Andrew Walker / @designsince86
Hotel Pools – Still

View our other Best of 2020 lists here!

Like our lists? Check out our Top 10’s from previous years!

Top 10 Retrowave Albums of 2019

Top Ten Retrowave Albums of 2018

Best of 2019

Top 10 Sythnwave Album Art of 2020

10. Clyde Shelton – Spending Spirit

9. Dan Terminus – Last Call For All Passengers

8. A.L.I.S.O.N – Éternité

7. Droid Bishop – Music

6. Hotel Pools – Still

5. The Midnight – Monsters

4. Various Artists – Magnatron III

3. W O L F C L U B – Runaways

2. Com Truise – In Decay Too

1. DEADLIFE – City of Eternal Rain

(Very) Honorable Mentions

Daniel Deluxe – Ghostrunner (Original Soundtrack)

Baldocaster/Traveler CS – Exodus/Solare

Molchat Doma – Monument

Master Boot Record – Floppy Disk Overdrive

Yota – Hazy Paradise
Top 10 Retrowave Albums 202

View our other Best of 2020 lists here!

Like our lists? Check out our Top 10’s from previous years:
Top 10 Retrowave Albums of 2019
Top Ten Retrowave Albums of 2018
Best of 2019

Top 10 Synthwave Albums of 2020

Polychora Records evolved out of the youtube channel Comrades – a Com Truise archivist turned channel turned synth label. Polychora notably just curated the tracklisting for Com Truise’s upcoming “In Decay, Too” – which drops tomorrow!

Clyde Shelton is brand-new to the larger synth scene, with his first releases slapping bandcamp and soundcloud in 2019. At the time I’m writing he only has 140 SoundCloud followers, and that’s a damn shame. I’m incredibly excited to hear what Clyde Shelton has to offer for the future. In the meantime, grab “Spending Spirit,” (at name your own price!) here – and check out the title track below! You can also follow Clyde Shelton on Instagram @sheltec_clydysseus.

Few things can get us more excited than the announcement of a new Com Truise album – but this specific album seems to be a special treat for fans!

The original “In Decay” album was a selection of early unreleased work. “In Decay, Too” seeks to replicate that by shining new light on a host of newer unreleased work from Com Truise as well. Com Truise actually worked with Polychora (Formerly Comrade,) the internet’s foremost Com truise archivist. Polychora has been following Com Truise since the early days, and helped the team find and unlock some true gems for “In Decay, Too.”

We only hear one track from the pre-order: “False Ascendancy,” which, of course, is brilliant. For a deeper preview we’ve copy-pasted the following text from the Ghostly release page below. Grab your preorder here (Bandcamp) or here (Ghostly)

“Much like its predecessor, In Decay, the 2014 compilation of unreleased, early Com Truise recordings, In Decay, Too unlocks a new set of rarities and unheard fragments from the past for the producer’s legion of fans.

To accomplish such a feat, the Com camp tapped the Internet’s foremost Com Truise archivist, Polychora (formerly Comrade), whose YouTube channel has diligently documented Seth Haley’s musical output since his earliest Komputer Cast (Haley’s podcast mix series) days.

Polychora’s vault and input helped Haley and the team locate and curate the ultimate sequence of career-spanning off-album material, showcasing an artist in perpetual orbit of hazy machinist nostalgia. Haley’s singular style of melodic beat music is the work of countless iterations; with In Decay, Too, his idiosyncratic exercises, experiments, and pivots pause for a rightful wave of appreciation.

Following the smeared introductory tones of “Zeta,” the album locks into its first robotic groove on “Compress—Fuse,” a trademark Truise treatment with cascading synth lines and deep, sinister low-end bass stabs.

Further down is the suspiciously bright “False Ascendancy,” which lures listeners through a labyrinth of drum patterns and siren-like keys, all colliding into “Constant Fracture.” The track pushes to the point of stress, reaching the album’s apex with a punishing series of blows before fading to relief, where the beatless and contemplative “Trajectory” awaits.

In 2019, Com Truise left his previous sci-fi narratives behind for the visceral Persuasion System, a markedly more human record, which now makes In Decay, Too something like a bookend to an era. One last transmission from coordinates unknown; a culminating exhale ahead of what’s still yet to come.”

However, in spite of the name and sound being somewhat derivative – there is a lot  to love in “V​.​H​.​S. Volcanic / Harmonic / Sounds!”  Complex IDM beats overlap interesting synths that meld together and contrast to create some really fantastic tracks.

In fact, listening further, one can hear where “V​.​H​.​S. Volcanic / Harmonic / Sounds” actually take a lot of cues from Com Truise – but then branches out and creates something new, sounding a bit more influenced by traditional electronic dance music, and here the album truly begins to shine. Other moments feel more like traditional synthwave as well – an aesthetic that Com Truise himself predates.

Overall,  “V​.​H​.​S. Volcanic / Harmonic / Sounds” is an interesting mix of genres and a decent first showing for Buspin Jieber. It feels a bit derivative – sure – but underneath that is a decent sound waiting to escape and we’re interested to hear what he has in store for us in the future!

Listen to “V​.​H​.​S. Volcanic / Harmonic / Sounds” Here

Sn

Peter Zimmermann – Through The Night (Part 1)

Florida Skyline – The Green Tapes

Arcade High – New Impressions

Megadrive – 199XAD

Billy Mays Band – Introspection

Betamaxxx – Lost In A Dreamworld

Powerglove – Playback

Top 10 Retrowave Albums of 2019

10. Lucy in disguise – Sunset Radio

9. FM Attack – New World

8. Tonebox – Cloud Highway

7. Futurecop! – Voltrana

6. Akuma II – Alex & Tokyo Rose

5. Com Truise – Persuasion System

4. Waveshaper – Artifact

3. Quixotic – Flamingo Drive In

2. Michael Oakley – Introspect

1. Ollie Wride – Thanks in Advance

Before taking on this sublime cut from the “Persuasion System” EP, the Italian director helped envision several other delightful tracks – such as Greta Van Fleet’s – “Safari Song” and Phantogram’s “Funeral Pyre.”

From a facebook post, Haley described the music video’s metaphors and symbols in a rare moment of artistic insight:

“Inspired by the evocative, haunting atmospheres of the track and by the cinema of Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman and Krzysztof Kieślowski, the video for “Ultrafiche of You” is a metaphysical journey through the seasons of life. From the feeling of expectation and lightness of Spring to the tender sweetness interposed with the emotional storms of Summer, from the empty melancholy of Autumn, characterized by the lost of personal relationships and memories, to the desolation and loneliness of Winter.” Read the whole synopsis here.

In short, this artful video is the perfect accompaniment to such an astounding track – check it out below!

Every week on Friday afternoon we will be bringing you five of our favorite recent synth tracks. From outrun to darksynth, we have your weekend covered with our Weekly Selection! Check out our first picks below, in no particular order:

Power Glove – Firebird

Quixotic – Cocktails & Dreams

Com Truise – Existence Schematic

DJ Ten & By An Ion – Eternal

ADMO – Better Days

Florida Skyline is incredibly reminiscent of HOME’s work (of simpsonwave meme fame) – featuring chilled-out low-fi synthwave sounds with just a hint of vaporwave for good measure. In spite of sounding very similar to HOME, Florida Skyline also manages to remain independently creative and brings her own unique sound to the table. “The Green Tapes” is, in short, an instant classic. If you’re a fan of HOME you will absolutely love this.

It’s worth noting her previous releases – “Anesthesia,” and the Com Truise-esque “Utopian EP” are equally fantastic. These releases are certainly derivative of HOME and Com Truise’s work – however they lay the foundations for something truly great.  You can list on one hand other artists who stormed into the scene with such perfectly produced gusto.

Check out the album here!