Here are my favorite songs of the month in synthpop, futurepop, darkwave, and adjacent genres. If you want to follow my music discovery this year, subscribe to my 2025 playlist on Spotify. New songs are added every Friday. Sort by “Date Added” to see new tracks appear at the top of the playlist.
10. Death Valley Fight Club – “This Feeling”
Death Valley Fight Club is a German act that emerged in 2024 and has since released a handful of singles. Belonging to the same school as bands like Beyond Border and unitcode:machine, these artists are breathing fresh life into futurepop. I wasn’t familiar with the project until I heard “This Feeling,” which immediately grabbed my attention with its rich melodies and vulnerable lyrics from musician Tobi Buechert.
9. Dancing Plague – “Veins”
Oregon’s Dancing Plague turns down the tempo on latest single “Veins,” yet Conor Knowles’ cavernous vocals remain the focal point. This time, he takes a more straightforward approach to songcraft, letting his voice—still sounding like it crawled from the depths of hell—cut through a haze of snipping electronics and detached atmosphere. “Veins” is the third single from his upcoming album Domain, due in September.
8. The Brides of the Black Room – “Tension Rises”
Swedish collective The Brides of the Black Room remains one of the most compelling projects on the modern scene, thanks to its rotating roster of vocalists and ongoing narrative centered on a witch’s coven. Longtime cult member Ghostheart takes lead on “Tension Rises,” a smoky, lounge-inflected track that mines some of the bluesier elements of late-career Depeche Mode. A plinking piano refrain haunts the edges of the mix, lending the track its eerie elegance.
7. Propter Hoc – “Midnight in the Museum of Rock and Roll”
Scottish act Propter Hoc wasted no time following up this year’s Seduction and Betrayal album with a new four-song EP. “Midnight in the Museum of Rock and Roll” is its clear standout. The track pairs a detached, monotone vocal that quickly recalls Jim Reid of Jesus and Mary Chain with shimmering synths and a groove that leans hard into New Order pastiche. A melodic Peter Hook–style bassline arrives late in the song that ties the whole thing together beautifully.
6. Cold Connection – “Forever and a Day”
The last time we heard from Cold Connection, they cranked up the gloom on the dark and mysterious “Voices of the Night.” New single “Forever and a Day” finds them wading into brighter territory, with playful tones and Vince Clarke–esque synthesizer refrains. Daniel Billqvist’s vocals remain steeped in luscious melancholy, but the track showcases a lighter, bubblier side of the Swedish duo.
5. Rymdverket – “Another”
There’s a kind of magic that happens when you stumble across an exciting new artist—when everything else just stops. That’s exactly how I felt the first time I heard “Another,” my introduction to Swedish act Rymdverket. The song opens with a pulsating electronic blast, followed by a voice that carries the warm familiarity of synthpop’s golden era. Then come the melancholic lyrics, reflecting on the loss of a once-great relationship. It all clicked into place in under four minutes. I became an instant fan.
4. Rotersand – “Don’t Stop Believing”
In their two-plus decades of making music, German icons Rotersand have been many things: purveyors of dance floor bangers, thoughtful provocateurs addressing modern-day issues, and sonic architects of resistance. But one of their most enduring qualities—often overlooked—is the joy and optimism woven into their work. “Don’t Stop Believing” revels in that feel-good spirit that’s become a hallmark of Rotersand’s most recent era. Over swirling electronics and a rumbling beat, Rascal delivers a dose of warm confidence straight into your ears: “Don’t stop believing someone’s there / Don’t stop believing that someone cares.”
3. The Sound Veil Society – “OK”
With just their second song, Swedish-Norwegian duo The Sound Veil Society make a strong case for best new synthpop act of the year. “OK” follows their debut track “The River” with more of the luscious analog electronics that make their sound so rich and intoxicating. Where “The River” projected epic gravitas with sweeping synths and a dense sonic landscape, “OK” is more direct—a buoyant track built on a bustling beat and lyrics about learning to be comfortable in your skin.
2. NITE – “Cries for Help”
Texas-based duo NITE—twin brothers Myles and Kyle Mendes—has hovered on my periphery for years. I’ve even seen them live at Absolution Fest. Yet I somehow resisted their charms, perhaps due to their guitar-forward sound. “Cries for Help,” awash in radiant synths and swirling layers of sound, is a song so good it upends all my expectations. It even features a lovely freestyle piano breakdown around the 2:40 mark. And threaded throughout is one of the most exquisite refrains of the year: “You keep on breaking piece by piece.”
1. Tobias Bernstrup – “Breakout”
Swedish artist Tobias Bernstrup has long challenged gender norms through both his music and performance art, but his seventh album, Shadow Dancer, feels like an unapologetic celebration of queer and alternative identities. Tracks like “Under Heavy Strobe Light” and “Jackie 60” pay tribute to queer spaces and the “creatures of the night” who inhabit them. But it’s the deeper cut “Breakout” that serves as the album’s call to arms. Twinkling keys, chunky basslines, and skittering electronics lay the foundation for lyrics about overcoming prejudice, embracing your true self, and grabbing life by the balls. When I hear it, I want to toss a brick through the window of repression, then dance all night long. It deserves a place in the pantheon of queer anthems alongside “I’m Coming Out” and “Smalltown Boy.”
