The Top 10 Synthwave Albums of 2022:

10. Nosebleed (Deluxe) by Midnight Drift

9. Ultrasound by A.L.I.S.O.N & Hotel Pools

8. Heroes by The Midnight

7. The Textorcist OST by Gost

6. Triangle Unicode by We Are Magonia

5. Lovers Lake by Lovers Lake

4. I by Voyage

3. AKUMA 3 by ALEX & TOKYO ROSE

2. (Tie) In Motion I & II by Memorex Memories

2. (Tie) Tortured Waters by DEADLIFE

1. Sentimental by Miami Nights 1984

Honorable Mentions

(In No Particular Order)

In Search of Tomorrow (Original Documentary Soundtrack) – by Various Artists

Forgotten Shapes by Waveshaper

Payback by Neon Nox

Synth City by All the Damn Vampires

Distorted Memories by Lucy In Disguise

The Midnight ‘Change Your Heart or Die’ is out now via Counter Records.

Siamese Youth is a truly righteous duo, comprised of Mark Gritsenko and Christoph Hassel. Although this is only their second full-length album, their experience as musicians is immediately evident. Prior to Siamese Youth, Mark Gritsenko was the lead singer for the German rock back Marakesh, and Christoph Hassel is a seasoned songwriter, having acted as writer and producer for several different acts. The result of this experience is the high production value we hear on “Echoes of Tomorrow,” which almost seems to glisten as you listen.

The Siamese Youth Sound Get’s An Iconic Synthpop Upgrade

This album isn’t just shiny though, it’s better all around. The Siamese Youth sound has definitely had an upgrade, taking the best elements from their debut album “Electric Dreams” and improving on them. The tracks here are much more groovy, and they play with space more as well, with many of the tracks feeling very wide and impressive. “Electric Dreams” had its fair share of amazingly upbeat catchy tracks, but overall it seemed a bit laid back at its core. Siamese Youth have really come out of their shell, and take it to a whole other level in “Echoes of Tomorrow,” with certain tracks like ‘Can I Be Me,’ and ‘Young Nights’ sounding downright iconic.

Don’t get me wrong, “Electric Dreams” is a fantastic album, but “Echoes of Tomorrow” absolutely knocks it out of the park! All of these elements and vocals blend together even more to make an even better release, and the result is absolutely gorgeous, groovy, iconic synthpop and dreampop!

Similar to their debut “Electric Dreams,” “Echoes of Tomorrow” draws on elements of dreamwave, synthwave, and catchy pop vocals. This combination makes for some excellent dreampop, but with “Echoes of tomorrow,” the arrangements are even more upbeat and poppy – and also now infused with some chord progressions seen more in anthemic alt-rock. The additional influence of that stadium busting alt-rock iconic U2 sound plays extremely well with their synthwave and dreamwave roots, elevating it just that much more.

Siamese Youth recently explained a bit more about the transformation to their sound in an interview with The Big Takeover:

“I think our sound has developed a lot. Our approach was to make Echoes Of Tomorrow more mature, stronger and a bit rockier than Electric Dreams…Our first album was very introverted, dreamy and nostalgic. But on Echoes Of Tomorrow we extended the topics we write about a lot…. In many tunes, it was like writing a synthwave song and producing it nearly as a rock song. While our first album was more dreamy and we would even say a bit shy, this one is more of a clear sonic statement.”

“Echoes of Tomorrow” Almost Sold Out!

Overall, this is a truly fantastic album and not one to be missed. If you’re a fan of synthpop acts like The Midnight and Michael Oakley, or enjoy the rock, pop, and synthwave influences from Wolf Club, you will likely absolutely love Siamese Youth’s “Echoes of Tomorrow.”

Sadly, MiniDiscs and cassettes are already sold out – but Vinyl and CDs are still available! But they won’t be for long – grab your copy here today!

Fans of darksynth, rejoice! “Horror Show” is quite a dark departure from previous The Midnight releases. They’ve teetered on the edge of making darker tracks before, but now they’re diving headlong into darker side of synth – featuring elements of 80’s screamer slasher flicks. “Horror Show’s” tracks are still much lighter than say, STRNGR & Destryur’s “Night at the Grindhouse” or DEADLIFE’s “Dark Nation.” But, when you think about it their vocal style doesn’t really fit with grindhouse synth bangers anyway. Either way, this departure from The Midnight’s regular sound shows that the band is always willing to test out new, murky waters – a hallmark of good artistry.

“Neon Medusa” is filled with references to French touch, featuring some awesome Justice-style synth leads. The lyrics are also notably darker, taking The Midnight into territory truly after dark!

Don’t fall in love with the man on stage /
I’ll be on in a minute, I’m just sharpening my blade…

When I had a chance to interview The Midnight right before “Monsters” was released, they mentioned that they were a bit interested in a darker sound, and that they’re always just going to make music that they enjoy. That was just under a year ago – although it feels much, much longer than that – so having the “Horror Show” EP coming out so quickly was a bit of a welcome surprise! We can’t wait to see what they have in store for this EP, which is dropping later this month!

Pre-order the album here on Vinyl and Cassette.

10. Droid Bishop – “End Game”

9. Yota – “The Vibe”

8. Clyde Shelton – “Spending Spirit”

7. The Midnight – “America Online”

6. W O L F C L U B – “Electrify”

5. TOKYO ROSE – “TYRAEL”

4. Florida Skyline – “Hello World”

3. Com Truise – “Galactic Melt”

2. Waveshaper – “CRT Days”

1. DEADLIFE – “Strands Unravel”

Honorable Mentions:

A.L.I.S.O.N – “Lightyears”

Voyage –  “Sync”

Dan Terminus – “Requiem”

Baldocaster – “Map to the Stars (Part 1)”

View our other Best of 2020 lists here!

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

Top 10 Retrowave Songs of 2019
Top Ten Retrowave Songs of 2018
Best of 2019 

Top 10 Synthwave Tracks 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

In fact, Josh Dally was featured on Timecop1983’s album “Night Drive,” tracks by FM-84 and has taken the stage next to Ollie Wride and Dana Jean Pheonix! As you might expect from one rubbing shoulders with those high caliber musicians, At 1980’s debut “A Thousand Lives” is a top-notch synthpop album perfect for fans of the The Midnight, Michael Oakley, and Ollie Wride.

Filled with catchy vocals, perfectly produced synthesizers, plenty of gated reverb, and a soft saxophone glaze, At 1980 is quickly joining the pantheon of New Retro Synthpop. Exploding with nostalgia and a transcendental atmosphere, “A Thousand Lives” is simply not an album you want to miss!

Listen to the new album here!

Top 10 Retrowave Songs of 2019

10. McRocklin & Hutch – One of Them

9. Michael Oakley – Push It To The Limit

8. FM Attack – Dark Blue Sky

7. Futurecop! – Star (feat. Computer Magic)

6. Kalax – Let Go (feat. Anton Vic)

5. Timecop1983 – My Delorean (feat. Primo)

4. FM-84 – Bend & Break

3. Wayfloe – Fractions (feat. Jessie Frye)

2. SYML – Clean Eyes (The Midnight Remix)

1. Ollie Wride – Back To Life (Official Video)

A little digging in their bandcamp shows the London-based duo Dean Canty and Adam Sullivan have been releasing synth music since all the way back in 2012. In fact, they’ve been featured in several films and their music played on radio stations around the world – an odd chart to success opposite of what is often seen.

All that time has allowed them to fully develop their aesthetic, taking the route of retro synthpop much the same as The Midnight and Michael Oakley. “Returning Home” (out now via Outland Recordings) is filled with endless radio-worthy vocals and snappy, catchy hooks – go grab a listen now. Fans of synthpop wont be disappointed!

Listen Here!

Saying “Aaron Vehling is brains behind Vehlinggo,” is a vast understatement. As the editor, publisher, senior writer, and podcaster behind the stellar Vehlinggo machine, I imagine him as a sort of multi-armed many-faced deity constantly spinning about like an enlightened dervish, synth music, news, and reviews spewing from his fingertips with righteous retro glee.

The scene owes Vehling a great deal of thanks – and instead he has thanked us with “Vehlinggo Presents – 5 Years,” featuring many fantastic artists like The Midnight, Parallels, Anoraak, Betamaxx, Bunny X, Deadly Avenger, Diamond Field & Dana Jean Phoenix, FM Attack, Forgotten Illusions, Highway Superstar (feat. Zoe Polanski), In Mirrors, Johan Agebjorn (feat. Tom Hooker & remixed by Wolfram), Le Matos, Maethelvin, Mecha Maiko, Metavari, and VHxRR.

The album is fantastic – go listen to it here now!

Of course, the duo are not new to making music – Ukrainian Mark Gritsenko has been the lead singer for the German rock back Marakesh and Christoph Hassel is a seasoned songwriter. Taking cues from major synthpop acts like The Midnight and Michael Oakley, the Siamese Youth duo also grabbed two collaborations with Futurecop!, eventually leading to a release with NewRetroWave.

That debut -“Electric Dreams” – perfectly demonstrates the duo’s infectious hooks and tailored retro dreaminess. Every track seems to glow with a sense of neon-pop nostalgia that feels dramatically seasoned for a debut release.

The production on the album is clean and crisp, and drenched in melancholic pop vocals that sound much more contemporary, creating an interesting dichotomy of Dreampop or Dreamwave.

We expect to hear greater and greater releases from Siamese Youth as they grow into the Retrowave and Dreamwave sound – they are certainly an act to watch!

Top Tracks – “Coco,” “Dream On,” “Yesterday,” and “Nariyeh Thanei (feat. Futurecop!)”

Listen to “Electric Dreams” Here!

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!

The Midnight – Arcade Dreams (Timecop1983 Remix)

Nitewind – Skyline

Tonebox – Run

Siamese Youth – Coco

Magic Sword – Awakening