The latest edition of The List features releases from Vehlinggo stalwarts Fawn, Bunny X, NINA & Radio Wolf, and Miami Nights 1984, who are all giving us quality art to help us navigate our wild world. Never let anyone tell you there’s no more good music.
Bunny X — Love On A High Floor
The Bunnies are back with their biggest musical statement so far. New album Love On A High Floor offers the most interesting take on synthwave subgenre officewave that I’ve heard in years. (Officewave often or usually relies on interpretations of 1980s office tropes, and in the wrong hands it can sound samey with an over-reliance on Patrick Bateman vibes. You won’t find this here.) By blending effervescent love songs with corporate machinations, the listener is treated to a sexy earnestness that shows deep heart amid the inhumanity of the capitalist system. Out now via Aztec in digital and physical forms, featuring collabs with Sellorekt/LA Dreams, Don Dellpiero, producer Gosteffects, the inimitable sound engineer Tony Lake, The Lightning Kids, Chip Cosby from Heartracer, and original band member Mary Hanley.
Fawn — “Eyes”
This project from Ida No (formerly of Glass Candy) and Nat Walker (formerly of Chromatics) has indeed, of course, quickly become one of my faves since the real-life couple revealed it four years ago. Their latest single, released this summer, is the delectable “Eyes.” It features the electronic shoegazey psychedelia found on debut album Flamboyant NonViolent, but with a synthpop sound that puts it comfortably on a synthwave playlist. The single also features a club version of the song that maintains the elegant beauty of the original but with a bigger sound that I can envision sounding like a boisterous new wave number live. Will they ever perform live, though? Our lips our sealed. Out now on Bandcamp and streamers.
NINA & Radio Wolf — Jukebox Dream Vol. 1
The Queen of Synthwave and her royal consort have unleashed a catchy new album stacked to the brim with memorable hooks, interesting sounds and arrangements, and stellar songwriting. (See my review of the magnificent single “To See You” for elaboration on some of this majesty.) Interestingly, despite who’s made it and NewRetroWave Records releasing it, Jukebox 1 sounds more like a buzzy indie record than a purely synthwave production. This is a good thing, because NINA’s voice and Oliver Blair’s axe and synth work should not be sequestered into just one room. Out now on streamers and via Bandcamp.
Miami Nights 1984 — Disk I
The latest release from Miami Nights 1984 (AKA Michael Glover) is the 5-track Disk I, which he bills as “the first installation from a world where dial-up never died and the internet felt like an adventure.” Now this is the kind of nostalgia I can dig! Along those lines, he does offer up some more 90s-sounding elements to his work that otherwise maintains the synthwave pioneer’s classic 80s sound. Among the reasons this release is worth your time is the compelling collab with Lazerhawk, his longtime pal and co-founder of the classic synthwave label Rosso Corsa. (The WOLFCLUB cut is a gem, too.) Out now on streamers and via Glover’s Bandcamp page.
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