#synth-pop

#synth-pop

Shortly after Kiss All the Time was first announced, fans noticed that the album cover resembles a digital camera screen and buttons. "Aperture" (which dropped on Jan. 22) sticks to that thematic imagery, its title coming from the photography term for the size of a lens opening through which light can enter. As Styles sings in the pre-chorus, "Aperture lets the light in," seemingly embracing an optimistic outlook, or letting in the (figurative) light.

pairing it with an '80s-inspired synth-pop palette. The album's closing track, power ballad "Appetite," is even an ode to desire itself: "I'm chewing you up, chewing you up," she chants on the rousing coda, refusing to apologize for going after what she wants. It recalls the delicious sensory abundance of a Mary Oliver poem: "there is no end/...to the happiness your body/is willing to bear."

When Newcleus made "Computer Age (Push the Button)," they couldn't have known just how potent it would sound today. The lead singer, communicating through a vocoder, is fed up with the power of consumer tech: "Everyone must have a machine/They say it's gonna make life easier but I can't stand it!" The pounding instrumental feels like the flashiest '70s synth-pop given a dystopian makeover, and the break arrives in a vortex of alarms, effects, and warning sirens.

CEVIL has unleashed a pulsating anthem with her fresh single "BREATHING LIKE I'M RUNNING", and it's nothing short of a visual spectacle. The music video is an electro-pop fever dream, brimming with playful energy. It features mechanical choreographies and an aesthetically tight staging, all peppered with a humorous undertone. Teaming up with visionary director Lukas Valentin, this collaboration brings CEVIL's wild ideas to life with an impressive visual flair.

Tommy Richman's 'MIAMI' captures the duality of desire and detachment, creating a sound that melds '80s synth-pop with contemporary R&B, layered with emotional complexity.

The eight-track album is Poliça's most emotionally resonant to date, reflecting on the months following bassist Chris Bierden's glioblastoma diagnosis.

The Exodus of Gravity skews more toward danceable songs as opposed to the prog of Arcadea's 2017 self-titled debut. The object was to get a little more dancey and a little more fun.

"I was listening to everything," Hosono tells me at least a dozen times in our conversation. It feels like an understatement. His diverse musical journey spans genres, age, and cultural influences.