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 2026 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. Die Sexual – “In For the Kill”
California duo Die Sexual make hard-hitting club music out of sultry, BDSM-tinged lyrics and seductive, high-energy beats. Their latest, “In for the Kill,” is razor-sharp from the very first pulse, all driving rhythm and dark allure. The lyrics land with spoken-word poise and unapologetic bite. If a club DJ drops this at 1:30 in the morning, I will storm the dancefloor.
9. Mental Discipline – “Limits”
Russian futurepop artist Mental Discipline returns with “Limits,” his first new track since 2022’s Nothing To Die For album. Built on a booming beat that pulses with relentless energy, the song layers spiraling electronic arrangements beneath Alex Mental’s luminous vocals. He’s kept busy with remixes and collaborations over the past few years, but “Limits” is a welcome return to new material.
8. Beyond Border – “Let Me In”
“Let Me In” is the latest single from Beyond Border’s upcoming third album Aftermath, which concludes their Welcome to the Future trilogy. The German project excels at club bangers built on thick beats, but they’re at their best when they lean into soaring anthems like this. The dramatic production still hits hard, yet it gives Iggi’s voice room to bloom with real emotional weight.
7. CRED – “Fragile”
Sweden’s CRED is an emerging presence in global synthpop. I’ve compared their sound to legends like OMD and Depeche Mode, and “Fragile” lands firmly in the DM arena—from the brooding atmosphere to a tenor that recalls Dave Gahan’s phrasing. But this rises above imitation with strong songwriting and a memorable hook that elevates the track: “We are the broken / We are the lost… we are fragile.”
6. Madeline Goldstein – “Dream 2 Die (No Heaven)”
The haunting, hallucinatory music of “Dream 2 Die (No Heaven)” sounds like a lost ’80s artifact unearthed from the back room of some long-shuttered underground club. Twinkling keys shimmer over thunk-thunk beats while Madeline Goldstein’s sensual, gauzy vocals drift through the haze. It’s a dreamy, decadent, and quietly intoxicating peek into her upcoming sophomore album, Speaking to the Body.
5. Buzz Kull – “Human Force”
Buzz Kull’s Deep Hate EP fuses the thumping insistence of Belgian body music with the pipe-clanking percussion of Depeche Mode’s most primitive era—then mutates it all with modern muscle built for today’s darkwave dance floors. Every track hits with brutal intensity, but the funked-up melodies of “Human Force” push it over the edge for me.
4. Tempers – “Who Says”
Tempers, the New York project led by singer-songwriter Jasmine Golestaneh, returns with “Who Says,” a pre-release single from her upcoming album Delusion. It’s a rush of layered electronics filtered through sleek, modern dark pop. Near the end, Jasmine’s soaring vocals intertwine with male backing vocals that add unexpected depth. The result throbs with energy—equal parts sinister and euphoric.
3. Vidéo L’Eclipse – “Mercury Kiss”
“Mercury Kiss,” the lead single from Vidéo L’Eclipse’s forthcoming third album, finds the Swedish duo pushing harder and heavier than ever before. They’ve built a solid rep on sophisticated midtempo mood pieces, but here they crank up the BPM and tighten their layers into a bona fide dancefloor jam. Lurking beneath the pulse, Jonas Peterson’s mesmerizing voice laments our one-time fascination with primitive AI. As always, details shine—a digitized voice flits through the background, spitting out numbers and letters like WarGames’ Joshua conducting a brute-force attack on the world’s nuclear codes.
2. ghostbells – “The Color”
New York duo ghostbells are carving out space where Crystal Castles once ruled. “The Color,” the lone new track from their debut EP Catacouture, captures the kaleidoscopic chaos that’s fueling their rise. Intricate sound patterns collide with driving beats, while vocals swell from a soft purr into a commanding chorus. It’s all wrapped in glowing darkwave gloom. Plenty have tried to fill the void Crystal Castles left behind. This might finally be the one.
1. TRAITRS – “Dream Drowning”
TRAITRS’ guitar-led darkwave barely qualifies as synthpop, though fuzzy pads and pulsating drum machines churn beneath the surface. By the final stretch, a subtle keyboard melody slips into the mix, elevating the tension. What really matters, though, is that “Dream Drowning” is a lovely fucking song. Its seductive tone radiates heavy Disintegration vibes, its lyrics wrestle with hanging fathers and unresolved trauma, and its thumping beat feels tailor-made for the gloomiest dancefloors.
Chris Brandon is the voice of Synthpop Fanatic. He is a writer and content strategist who lives in Washington, DC, with his husband and two Siberian huskies.
