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. Sleek Teeth – “The River”
Los Angeles duo Sleek Teeth dive headfirst into their EBM side with “The River,” a pounding track full of clanking, metal-on-metal percussion that recalls classic industrial. It’s a shift from the more melodic synthpop feel of their earlier songs—here, the vocals are terse and rhythmic, almost Nitzer Ebb–like in their cadence. Random phrases like “car crash,” “crude waste,” and “your confession” make it challenging to unpack their intention—but this track is really about the vibe. It makes me feel like sprinting through a factory, banging on pipes, and succumbing to the noise.
9. White Ritual – “Crosses”
White Ritual is a French darkwave foursome that blends synths, guitar, drums, and vocals into a dark, seductive sound. “Crosses,” their new Stranger Things–inspired song, captures the show’s neon-drenched menace with bubbling synths soaked in reverb and assaulted by gritty, distorted guitar. Softly cooing female vocals add to its shadowy atmosphere. This mix of synthwave textures and heavy guitar might not always be my thing, but there’s enough electropop allure to draw me in—and it’s genuinely beautiful.
8. Emmon – “Shades of Blue”
Sweden’s electro queen Emmon continues her reign with latest album Icon, a high-energy affair designed for dancefloors. Color runs through much of her songwriting, but nowhere more vividly than on the standout track “Shades of Blue.” The song crackles with sharp, crisp production—a dynamic mix of thumping low-end and piercing highs, including pipe-clanking percussion that adds a touch of industrial bite. Its catchy chorus, “I can see darkness around you / I can see all the shades of blue,” heightens the song’s ominous tension.
7. Matte Blvck – “Soulless”
A new era of Matte Blvck is underway. “Soulless” marks the California trio’s first release since last year’s monumental album Vows, which I named the best record of 2024. The track continues to showcase the band’s gift for layering intense percussive elements into mesmerizing, ever-shifting arrangements. The music’s pummeling rhythms and dense, dark atmosphere contrast sharply with Alex Gonzales’s intimate vocals, creating a lovely balance of power and vulnerability. It may be a while before we get another Matte Blvck full-length, but things are off to a promising start.
6. BlakLight – “Leave a Light On”
California trio BlakLight return with “Leave a Light On,” the last single before their forthcoming album The Haunting of Us finally arrives. The band’s trademark bubbling synths shimmer beneath a rich, moody arrangement, while a subtle dose of guitar adds depth and warmth. The chorus—“Leave a light on as we sway”—feels like a natural evolution of their breakthrough track “Isolation.” Both songs use dance as a metaphor for connection, only now we need light to protect us. It’s another graceful moment of intimacy and reflection from a band that continues to mine emotional depth out of the world around us.
5. Pale Meridians – “Your Only Friend”
International trio Pale Meridians finally deliver on the promise of their early singles with their long-awaited debut album, Wire and Monuments. “Your Only Friend” stands out for its mix of melancholy and sly charm. Lines like “We are meant to die together” suggest intimacy entangled with despair, as if something darker hides beneath the song’s euphoric glow. The repeated line “in my forty-five” adds a note of self-reflection. Musically, it’s graceful and understated, built on dynamic synth flourishes and a pulsing rhythm that feels intimate and expansive.
4. Isaac Howlett – “Eggshell”
The unfortunate, indefinite hiatus of beloved synthpop project Empathy Test has at least one silver lining: it gives Isaac Howlett the chance to collaborate with some incredible producers from the scene. On “Eggshell,” he joins forces with the legendary Daniel Myer (Haujobb, Covenant, countless others), who crafts a tense, atmospheric soundscape around a squishy, Morse code–like synth motif that skitters through the track. The result is hypnotic yet oddly soothing, wrapping Isaac’s unmistakable voice in a cocoon of flickering shadows. His lyrics capture the ache of tiptoeing through a fragile relationship. It’s intimate, vulnerable, and haunting.
3. White Birches – “Breathing”
“Breathing,” the latest single from Swedish duo White Birches, is stunning in its simplicity—an achingly beautiful song about survival in the aftermath of loss. Built from clanking, rattling layers of electronic sound, the track pulses with a high, shimmering synth line that cuts through like light on water. Jenny Gabrielsson Mare’s voice is mysterious and commanding, shifting from ghostly whispers to a maelstrom of emotion on the song’s lone refrain: “I’mmmm… breathing.” It’s a haunting and deeply affecting return from one of Sweden’s most intriguing electronic acts.
2. Lights of Euphoria – “Machines of Light”
Three years after reinventing itself, German act Lights of Euphoria has become a reliable producer of majestic, emotionally charged synthpop. “Machines of Light” might be this era’s defining anthem—a song about mechanical beings searching for love and illumination. It fuses uplifting trance arpeggios with classic synthpop melodies, radiating power and tenderness. A mid-song spoken-word moment adds a touch of Vincent Price–style mystique, but the true highlight is the soaring chorus. It’s easy to imagine thousands of fans at an outdoor music festival singing along under the night sky.
1. Assemblage 23 – “Believe”
I hate to do this. I don’t like spotlighting the same artist two months in a row because I’d rather share the love. But there’s no denying that Assemblage 23’s latest single is even better than last month’s top song, “Tolerate.” Where that track seethed with cynicism and defiance, “Believe” offers a powerful rebuttal of hope. Over swirling electronic arrangements, Tom Shear delivers moving lines like “We are the pilots of our dreams” and “A flower grows in dirt,” building toward a stunning, intense pre-chorus that lands with a single word: “So I… refuse.” With “Tolerate” and “Believe,” it’s clear we’re in for a knockout album.
