Category: Synthwave

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Paris Duo La Punta Bianca Shares Eerily Dreamy Single

Paris-based synth pop/synthwave duo La Punta Bianca — Francesca Diprima (vocals) and Phillipe Brown (vocals, synths, drum machines) made a name for themselves in the Parisian alternative and indie scenes with their debut EP, 2019’s Demian. The EP saw the duo firmly cementing their sound: Diprima and Brown’s dreamy melodies are paired with equally dreamy synth-based soundscapes.

Initially released on cassette tape, the EP was then pressed on vinyl twice. The EP’s success in the synthwave scene enabled the duo to tour across France and the European Union.

The Parisian duo’s highly-anticipated and long-awaited full-length debut, Disquiet is slated for a March 18, 2025 release through Detriti Records. The album, which continues a run of material rooted in absurdist romanticism and Lynchian strangeness, sees the pair drawing from Angelo Badalamenti, John Barry and Leonard Cohen with songs being sometimes dancey, sometimes melodramatic. Lyrics were written and are sung in French, Italian and English throughout. All of this is paired with carefully programmed synth and drum machine-driven arrangements.

Disquiet‘s first single “Extanimal,” is a dream-like song featuring twinkling synth arpeggios, Casio synthesizer-like beats as a lush yet atmospheric bed for Diprima and Brown’s eerily uncanny boy-girl harmonies. The result is a song that reminds me quite a bit of Young Narrator from the Breakers-era Pavo Pavo — but with a nouveau vague sensibility.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Pill Couple Share An Anthemic Banger

Pill Couple is a Vietnamese-based electronic duo, with members who grew up in the US and Russia, who have been friends since school. The duo’s sound sees them experimenting and meshing different genres and styles including dream pop, dark wave, synth wave, psychedelia and hip-hop rooted in melodicism, emotive vocals and heart-worn-on-sleeve lyrics that thematically focuses on sorrow and hope.

The duo’s latest single “Violetize” is a slickly produced bit of synthwave/darkwave featuring buzzing synth oscillations, glistening synths, industrial clang and clatter, tweeter and woofer rattling thump and Nik’s expressive delivery paired with rousingly anthemic hooks and chorus. The result is a song that pairs pop craft with modern production and earnest lyrics.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Magic Sword Shares Dramatic “The Ending”

Magic Sword is a Boise-based multimedia project that tells the ageless tale of good and evil through an expansive — and ever-expanding — graphic novel, featuring The Immortals — The Keeper of the Magic Sword (red, keyboards), The Seer of All Truths (blue, guitar) and
The Weaver of all Hearts and Souls (yellow, drums) — accompanied by an original synth-driven soundtrack and immersive live performances. Combining three mediums, the Boise-based outfit creates an epic experience for those who are bold enough to bear witness and come away with a deeper understanding of the ultimate hero’s journey.

Rooted in a musical and visual aesthetic that is unabashedly drawn from ’70s and ’80s fantasy and sci-fi, the project’s followers are brought to another plane of existence in which that ageless struggle between light and shadow is very real.

Magic Sword’s The Immortals give a direct account of their vision — and of the overarching story of The Magic Sword:

“In the beginning, there was light… and darkness. A creation of perfect balance. As time passed, evil spread over the land like a plague, slowly consuming everything in its path. In the final moments before light was lost to the shadow for all time, a weapon of infinite power was created, the Magic Sword. Thus, restoring balance to the universe. The genesis of things are often small. As the single seed grows to a mighty oak, so too did the path of the Keeper begin as a single choice in an age long past. Once a humble king, they were manipulated into unknowingly unleashing the Dark One.All of reality was torn asunder as the Lord of Shadow was released from their ancient prison, having been bound only by the power contained within the Magic Sword.From that day forth, the King was cursed to be the immortal Keeper of this powerful key. He has been relentlessly compelled for millennia to find the Chosen One who will one day unleash the true power of the weapon and cannot rest until the grand design is seen complete with the Darkness bound once again. Little is known of The Lord of Shadow but death and decay. Since the release from his ancient prison by the hapless Keeper of the Magic Sword, he has pulled all of existence slowly toward himself in a vortex of darkness and destruction. Any wayward soul that he touches is corrupted to their ultimate demise. He uses his followers, acolytes of death, with no more regard than any other, for his reason of being is simply to end all things. Ensuingly, the forces of good have been searching for the Light to push him back into his eternal prison. The key to operating this cell is the Magic Sword; when wielded by the Chosen One, it has the power to return balance to the Universe.

The Keeper of the Magic Sword searches endlessly for the Chosen One. With the help of the other Immortals, The Seer of All Things and The Weaver of Hearts and Minds, they are ever trying to stem the tide of the Great Shadow from engulfing all life. Through time and space itself, The Immortals are pulled by the power of the Magic Sword to those who hunger for true justice. Whenever the need is great, they appear with the Magic Sword and a high-stakes proposition for those who are pure of heart, perpetually hoping that their search is finally over. This prophesied being contains the ability to wield the power of the Magic Sword and seal the prison that holds Dark One for all eternity. Only then will The Keeper, The Seer, and The Weaver be able to rest. Until the chosen one is revealed, the search continues in this realm and many others throughout all of time and space. In what form will the MagicSword manifest? Who is the Chosen One? Will it be you? Answers will reveal themselves as the need arises. A tale of high adventure as old as time itself.”

In the installment in the expansive Magic Sword universe, The Keeper embarks on a righteous quest to navigate a corrupt world where the sword has been abducted by an unfathomably foul evil. Amid the conflict, he seeks to find himself and reclaim what is rightfully his “Badlands.” Originally composed as the soundtrack to a feature film and conceived as a sort-of solo album for Magic Sword’s The Keeper, Badlands, which was surprised released through Joyful Noise Recordings tells the story of loss and rediscovery of the one’s self while being a departure from the band’s trademark synthwave sound. Instead, Badlands is lovingly indebted to John Carpenter and Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson.

Badlands‘ latest single, the cinematic and slow-burning ‘The Ending” is built around layers of glistening, retro-futuristic synth arpeggios paired with propulsive four-on-the-floor and a relentless groove. The composition manages to set a dramatic vibe and setting for its protagonist, The Keeper: I can picture The Keeper finally encountering his antagonist — and having an epic battle in a Dali-esque landscape.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Out Run Shares 80s-Inspired “Monster”

Out Run — singer/songwriter Ginevra Abbarchini and producers Niccolò “2Crimes” Messeri and Lawrence “Mouth Water” Messeri — formed last year with the intent of crating material that meshes elements of dream pop and electro pop. 

Their debut single, was the slow-burning Dead Blue-era Still Corners and Washed Out-like “Meet Me On The Road,” a song featuring glistening synth arpeggios and Abbarchini’s sultry delivery paired with skittering trap beats and well-placed, razor sharp hooks.

Featuring glistening synths, Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk-like motorik grooves, tweeter and woofer rattling beats paired with big hooks and Abbarchin’s sultry delivery, “Monster,” the trio”s first single of the year will bring memories of Depeche Mode, New Order, and other 80s fare but with a clean, modern production.