“Decibel, what the fuck are you talking about? This isn’t metal!” you exclaim upon pressing play. You’re right about that, but “Power Plan,” the new song from synth-soundscape maestro Dave Neabore definitely rips and drips in ’80s nostalgia. Perhaps known to you as the bassist of Jersey rap/hardcore crew Dog Eat Dog, Neabore dabbles in synthesizer music in his free time. A slight departure from the more horror soundtrack-focused tunes of his first release, “Power Plan” and the accompanying Star Feels album are straight synthwave songs, using melody and thumping bass to build to a crescend ..read more

One-person project Abstract Void made some waves on Bandcamp when its debut album, Into the Blue, dropped in 2017. It was quickly followed up by a sequel, Back to Reality. The pair of albums combined blackgaze with synthwave, creating something that sounded refreshingly new and generating chatter online. It took three years for a follow up album, but Abstract Void released Wishdream at the end of September. The two styles of music are blended more thoroughly than on previous releases, the synths serving as an additional layer rather than an instrument working alongside the blackgaze part of Ab ..read more

Preeminent synthwave icon Perturbator — cardinaled by musician James Kent — have returned from the uncanny valley to pontificate that all denominational positions on vice are now permitted under new edict called the Lustful Sacraments. To put it simply: What happens on planet Earth, stays on planet Earth. Imbibe in the multi-fountain of manifold desires faithful flock. Between the alluring lights of the Red Light District, the harmonious clang of slot machines, all-you-can-eat buffets, televised fight clubs, and crumbling steeples, Perturbator have rewound to 1984 as a fast-forward to mid-2045 ..read more