Simply put, Leisure bears the unmistakable mark of an artist for whom the eighties aesthetic is a preferred sonic palette rather than a crutch.

Duett’s ‘Leisure’ is out now on bandcamp and other streaming platforms.

Leake Streets’ brick-walled halls glowed with majestic, electric neon lights, paving the scenery with the perfect ambience to greet the fans and their colourful attires. Artists, staff and fans all mingled together and shared drinks throughout the night, whether it be at the bar, in the concert hall or at the popular cardboard arcade, and every square inch of the venue was filled with a palpable sense of love and passion, for a shared sense of nostalgia, for a past we may or may not have known. Those lucky enough to have wandered through the halls at the right time will have even run into a fully armed T-800 Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator shouting classic Terminator catchphrases and posing for pictures alongside festival attendees, begging the question: what more could you want out of a Retro-themed music festival?

Presided over by emcee DJ She-Ra whose tireless work ran all throughout the night, the Synth marathon ran uninterrupted for twelve hours, from dusk till dawn. As any connoisseur would have guessed from the lineup announcements for the festival, RetroFuture Fest left no room for disappointment in its running order of artists. Whether you like your retro synth music funky, sparkly, epic, funky or downright pitch-dark, the festival had you covered and then some, featuring just about every type of lineup you could think of onstage. Amongst our top three personal favorites in the festivals’ flawless set of shows, Sunglasses Kid pumped the funky vibes up to critical levels with a set featuring guest vocalist SJBRAVO and dancer Jean Frais, Lebrock destroying the stage with some of the most epic vocal performances we’ve ever seen at a Synthwave festival, and Danger unleashing the nights’ monumental finale with the heaviest set of all.

Although this marked our first time as attendees, the loyal Retro Future fans were unanimous in their verdict; the festival had once again outdone itself with this third edition. As for us, we’re certainly looking forward to seeing how its organizers plan on following up on such a tour de force. Young though it may be, Retro Future Fest is already well on its way to becoming a landmark event in the Synthwave music scene.

See you next year!

All Photos by Robin Ono

All Rights Reserved.

Friday afternoons mean one thing – the NRW Weekly Selection. We’re striving to bring you the best of the best. From outrun to darksynth, we have your weekend covered!
Check out who hit our top spots this week:

Mooggy – Lucid Moments

Electric Youth – The Life

Filmmaker – Castle Maze

Caspro – The Approach

Duett – Touch(Night Version)

Grab your tickets here now!

Grab your tickets here now!

This fantastic album is the third full length release from Duett – captained my UK based Ben Macklin – and an instant-classic. Building off the previous themes of the much lauded “Borderline,” “Cycles” continues the tradition of Duett’s signature sound – an inspiring, dreamy mix of chillwave and synthwave that just bleeds relaxed costal vibes.

Though the aesthetic is similar, this record is just a bit more mysterious and funky than “Borderline,” updating the Duett sound without straying too far away from familiar territory. It’s the perfect way to play out any summer sunset. Grab a listen below now!

Cycles by Duett

You’re never supposed to judge an album by it’s cover, but from the first moment my eyes graced upon the pastel, sunset soaked artwork of Duett’s “Borderline”, I knew this album was going to be exceptional. Something about the washed out, pale, not-so-neon colors seemed to spark my memory, transporting me back to a different time long gone, almost forgotten – and I hadn’t even heard the first track!

“Borderline” is Duett’s second full length release, captained by UK based producer Ben Macklin and featuring some outright stellar vocals from Stewart Lockwood. Each song is a shining example of production perfection, crafted with light and often glamorous crystalline synthesizers.

Largely down tempo, this album seems to bleed a relaxed late 80’s west coast vibe from beginning to end, regardless of which track you choose. The period tonality which is so solidly cemented in this release is unsurprising, given Macklin chose to only use a small number of synths and drum machines which were released over the middle and late 80’s.

In spite of sharing a certain tonal quality, each piece of this album delivers in it’s own special way. My favorite standouts are the rainy VHS intro and quickly echoing synths of the opening track ‘Atlas’, the odd drums and atmospheric melodies in “Touch” and the bright brass stabs and Jam & Lewis inspired groove in ‘Provision’.

The two songs featuring Steward Lockwood’s vocals, ‘Julienne’ and ‘Running Scared’ are also easily standouts on the album. Each one of these vocal pieces seem to have traveled back through time to create a truly well defined release that fills all the nostalgic gaps.

In spite of being an ocean fueled relaxation romp, no proper synthwave album would be complete without at least a couple driving up-tempo ground pounders. You can find that here in ‘The City’ and ‘Channel’ – thought both still retain the relative shiny and somewhat joyous tonal quality of the album.

Go grab a listen of this synthetic synthwave wonder-piece as soon as you can. There are plenty of producers delving into sci-fi or horror synthwave with intense, blasting basslines. This album is a much welcomed bright beach vacation from the everyday synth grind.