While every country has been impacted in some capacity, there’s no denying that some have been or currently are being hit harder than others. “In my country it has had a great impact,” says Lleida, Spain based artist Nightcrawler. “It isn’t very productive musically because I can not go to the studio, but I am enjoying being with my son and my wife all day long in my house”. 

In addition to studio time being hindered, some artists, like Barcelona, Spain based SUNESIS, have felt the impact on live performances.”My last Live show was on 7th March, right before quarantine was imposed in Barcelona. I had another proposal for a live show for mid April /early May that had to be postponed,” she says. Adding that “Spain’s economy is suffering tremendously and my salary has been reduced. Social media was crowded with opinions and recommendations on how to experience confinement but I honestly feel this depends on the person.”Despite the hardship, she adds “I am feeling peaceful, hopeful, and introspective.”

Fellow Spanish artist Electric Runner echoes the sentiment of optimism in this trying time, stating that despite the “obvious and awful impact to the music scene with all the shows and tours canceled”, that they are trying to stay positive, noting that “this is the first time in a couple of years when I have all this time to work on my music, some days are better than others but I’m trying to get the most of this situation, I know it’s not easy for everyone and I don’t say that you are in an obligation to be productive but if you ever wanted to start something artistic this is the perfect time.”

The idea of making the best of a terrible situation isn’t an uncommon one in this time, and really that shouldn’t be a surprise coming from a scene with a fetishistic obsession of lost neon futures. Connecticut, USA-based STRAPLOCKED has a similar positive attitude, saying “So far, it’s given me a bit more time to work on my music. I spend less money going out, spend less time driving, and that has yielded stronger relationships with my fiance and our children, [as well as] more time for music and more time to work on projects around the house.” STRAPLOCKED also brings up a point I haven’t seen discussed much. Where you are at in your life is going to impact how easy or hard lockdown is for you. “I think if I was about 10 years younger, having to stay home would REALLY affect me negatively but at this point in my life the last 2 months have felt almost like a vacation. I can imagine that’s a wildly unpopular opinion but, it’s how I feel nonetheless.”

There’s a bittersweet undercurrent in the minds of some artists as well. For Iowa, USA’s SHIKIMO, the added time for productivity comes at a social cost. “I was able to finish up my new EP in the extra time I’ve had that I’m not spending with friends.” SHIKIMO, like many, are trying to stay positive by focusing on whatever the most recent positive news they have is, which for him has been appearing on Spotify’s official Retrowave/Outrun playlist. 

Despite the optimism, it’s important not to forget that the artists who we often interact with as neon avatars online are real people with real jobs and lives that have been impacted, all the more reason to lend them your support today. 

Artists who make their living from music and gigs are impacted as much as artists who are now working more than ever at day jobs to make ends meet. Miami, Florida’s INTEGRA-85 tells one such story. “I haven’t been able to play shows and the lockdown has dampened my ability to focus on writing music. I’ve had to focus almost on work just to make ends meet in a house where all my roommates just lost all their jobs.” This is unfortunately a common reality for many, including Russian-based CYBERTHING!. 

What’s perhaps most difficult for me as a member of the scene who has admittedly a minute impact on the scene or sales is that I really want to implore readers and listeners of NRW who have the means during this time to support as many of the artists listed below as they can. All of these artists deserve your attention, your streams, your album purchases.

I have a tremendous amount of gratitude to the artists in this scene and consider myself very lucky to write about their music. 

Moonraccoon and Gryff were both artists with strong showings in 2018, so seeing the two collaborate on Ride should be a delight to any fan of the genre. Swedish-based Moonraccoon’s style has always been a fine balance between the cinematic and the infectious, while Australia-based Gryff’s distinct and emotive songs have usually soared above more funk and nu-disco inspired tracks. Blending the two styles manages to highlight the best qualities of both, and this is obvious less than 60 seconds into the EP with opener “Ride”.

The titular track has such a sense of urgency that the EP quickly establishes itself as one which favors energy over subtlety, and that works in its favor. The chorus of the track could go toe-to-toe with any of The Midnight’s more mainstream crossover jams. The track’s production all leads towards and accents the energy of this chorus. The first chorus is preceded by a half time intro, while the second drops everything until a few exciting tom hits bring listeners back to the mesmerizing synth and powerful vocals.

Before going any further, it’s time to address the elephant in the room: Gryff is easily one of the strongest singers in the scene. This was obvious on 2018’s “Jessie” and “All Night”, but the fact that “Ride” shows that he has somehow gotten even better is absurd, and it more deeply solidifies the fact that, in 2019, if neither Gryff or Moonraccoon aren’t on your radar, what are you even doing?

“No Easy Way Out” follows and blends synthwave sensibilities with a more glam rock aesthetic and vibe. The inversion of the previous song’s synth-focuses composition with a guitar solo shows this song with a more guitar-oriented track that features a synth solo that behaves in much the same way, climbing throughout the scale of the song. The other strength of the track is in just how larger-than-life it sounds. This is an arena anthem.

The slower, more romantic track “Promises” rounds out the string of original tunes. Though the pace is less frantic than the two preceding tracks, it packs just as much of a punch. Sonically, the song makes absolutely no pretense about being something other than a love song, but still the melodies throughout it, both from the synths and the vocals, makes it something melancholy without necessarily evoking heartbreak. It ends with a massive multi-person refrain of the chorus that literally fades out to lyrics that beg to not “fade out”. This kind of musical mimesis makes me a happy boy.

The remixes of “Ride” complete the EP, with Aviators and Yoru each offering a different interpretation of what was probably the Ride’s best track. Both are fun in their own right and are a good bonus to fans of the release. This EP is one that won’t require a lot of spins to get into, but it is one which will probably compel you to go back to it throughout the year, or even longer. There’s gold here.

You can follow Moonraccoon on Twitter and Bandcamp.

You can follow Gryff on Facebook, Twitter, and Bandcamp.

Listen to Ride here!

Opening track “The Future” opts for a slower and more cinematic opening, but the way it plays with filters on both synths and strange percussive sounds makes the song interesting, and by the time faster synths and guitars are introduced, the tension it builds is at a high point. The next track, “Target is a Machine” is an album high point with it’s buzzsaw of robotic sounding synths weaving in and out of a dreamy and upbeat mix. Fourth track “Dangerous Days (feat. Icarus)” is another standout, with it’s unique sounds building throughout the song and Icarus’ incredibly catchy vocal performance sitting effortlessly on Moonraccoon’s groovy and dance-oriented instrumentation.

“Neon Nights” might be the best track on the album and shows Moonraccoon fully embracing a side that was hinted at in previous work — how the melodies of these songs work so well in ethereal settings. The song has catchy synths at every corner, and at the half point turns up the uniqueness, but all along the synths and vocals meld to feel like one single instrument that just begs for spacing out with nice headphones. It’s haunting in the best way. The Straplocked-featuring “Three Laws” follows and sees the album turning from the serene to the sinister. The synths and guitar trade-off in an almost call and response as the track gains momentum amid Asimov’s laws of robotics. The track is the longest on the album, but never feels like it overstays its welcome.

While the next few songs aren’t weak — there really isn’t a bad song on the album — things lull until the “Sentience”, a track which features Turbo Knight. This is Moonraccoon at their most cinematic. The album clearly builds towards this and the other two songs which follow as album closers. This is the climax to Future Forces, and all three tracks nail that vibe. These songs all ooze a sense of drama that feels like the score for a final battle or boss fight, with the mixing on “One Hope” sounding particularly crisp. There is a lot going on in this song, but the mix and mastering allow everything to breathe, showing you just how much the song has to offer.

Like Sunset City, Future Forces is, incredibly, a name your price album as of writing. It is, beginning to end, a cinematic and strange and infectious album with a strong unifying theme of the cyberpunk. Unlike most cyberpunk inspired artists, Moonraccoon isn’t afraid to embrace lighter elements of the aesthetic, as evident by both the album art and the sonic choices throughout Future Forces.

You can pick up the album here on Bandcamp, and check out “Three Laws” on NRW’s YouTube channel below!

Be sure to subscribe to NewRetroWave and to follow Moonraccoon on Twitter and SoundCloud!