Synthwave (2000s genre)
| Synthwave | |
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| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Mid 2000s–early 2010s |
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Synthwave (also called outrun, retrowave, and futuresynth) is a genre of electronic music influenced by 1980s film soundtracks and video game music. Beginning in the mid 2000s, the genre developed from various niche communities on the Internet, reaching wider popularity in the early 2010s.
Musically, synthwave is heavily inspired by many 1980s films, video games, and cartoons, as well as composers such as John Carpenter, Vangelis, and Tangerine Dream. The genre name "outrun" comes from the 1986 driving arcade game Out Run, which was known for its selectable soundtrack.
According to musician Perturbator (James Kent), the style is mainly instrumental, and often contain 1980s cliché elements in the sound such as electronic drums, gated reverb, analog synthesizer bass lines and leads, all to resemble tracks from that time period. However, synthwave incorporates modern production techniques such as sidechained compression and placing the bassline and kick drum prominently in the mix as heard in modern electronic music genres such as electro house.
Aesthetically, synthwave gives a retrofuturistic perspective, emulating 1980s science fiction, action, and horror media, sometimes compared to cyberpunk. It expresses nostalgia for 1980s culture, attempting to capture the era's atmosphere and celebrate it. This aesthetic has been incorporated into retro themed movies and video games which have utilized Synthwave artists. According to Glitchslap's Bryan Young, one of the most notable examples of this is Power Glove's soundtrack to the 2013 video game Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
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