Welcome to the future. Each year about this time I make a list of the most anticipated releases coming out over the next 12 months in the synthpop/darkwave arena. Plenty of great singles will arrive this year, but this list focuses on full-length albums or newsworthy EPs.
I’m a stickler for accuracy. So these aren’t just hopefuls. Most of the acts listed below either posted on social media that they’re working on new material or told me personally that they’re planning to release something this year. I try to keep speculation to a minimum, but there are one or two instances of that, too.
I’ll be covering all this music as it comes out this year on new music Fridays and potentially in my best-of-the-month countdowns. If you don’t want to miss anything, follow me on Facebook. You can also follow my music discovery by subscribing to my 2025 Spotify playlist.
I’m excited to present the most anticipated synthpop albums of 2025. These are in alphabetical order by artists’ names.
ACTORS
Title: TBA
Release date: TBA
In 2024, ACTORS released a lovely single called “In Real Life” that incorporated synthpop wizardry into the band’s sound more than ever before. My expectations for album No. 3 couldn’t be higher. Ringmaster Jason Corbett tells me that another single is due soon, and he’s hoping to finish a full-length by the end of the year.

Beyond Border
Title: TBA
Release date: TBA
In 2020, I named German project Beyond Border the best new synthpop act of the year just as they were preparing their debut album. That album, Awakening, is the first part of a trilogy they call Welcome to the Future. Its sequel, Gathering, arrived last year, and they’re hoping to release the trilogy’s conclusion by the end of this year.

BlakLight
Title: TBA
Release date: TBA
California trio BlakLight intended to release their third proper album in 2024, but it was delayed due to personal reasons. They tell me it’s definitely coming this year. And that’s not all. The band is also working on a second instrumental album that will be darker and even more brooding than 2023’s tHE pADDED rOOM.

The Brides of the Black Room
Title: Commander
Release date: TBA
Swedish mystery collective The Brides of the Black Room plan to release their sophomore album, Commander, in April 2025. First single “One Flash of Light” set expectations high with haunting, cinematic majesty—it could soundtrack a James Bond movie.

Chris Harms
Title: 1980
Release date: February 7, 2025
Lord of the Lost frontman Chris Harms is going solo with an album of ’80s-inspired electropop. We’ve already heard first single “I Love You,” as well as the album’s two impressive guest appearances: Solar Fake’s Sven Friedrich and VNV Nation’s Ronan Harris.

CHROM
Title: TBA
Release date: TBA
German futurepop act CHROM returned from a lengthy hiatus in 2024 with “Paralysed,” a quintessential club anthem that features Christian Marquis’s lovely vocals. A second single, “Agony,” followed in December. He tells me they’re working on more music and planning to release a full-length this year.

Crying Vessel
Titles: Sepulchers: The Servant, Sepulchers: The Maiden
Release date: February 14
I have a feeling about this release—two releases, actually. Crying Vessel have revealed plans for an ambitious double feature. The band will release a pair of albums on the same day—one lighter, one darker. The infectious pre-release singles we’ve heard so far suggest we’re in for something monumental.

Frozen Plasma
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
The beloved German electronic duo Frozen Plasma celebrate their 20th anniversary this year. They’re planning several concerts that will feature surprise guests. We can also expect new music that will include new songs, an EP, and potentially an album.

Hatif
Titles: Small States
Release date: TBA
Since making their debut in 2021, Swedish duo Hatif have been a band to watch for their unusual synth elements that often include Middle Eastern sounds. This year, they’ll release their sophomore album, which will likely include recent singles “Broken Bucket” and “Take the Bait.”

Henric de la Cour
Titles: My Bones, Your Ashes
Release date: January 31, 2025
Fresh off a guest appearance on Kite’s monumental “Losing”—my 2024 song of the year—veteran Swedish artist Henric de la Cour will unveil his fourth solo album. My Bones, Your Ashes, the follow-up to his 2019 album Gimme Daggers, includes the singles “Dead Hank” and “Hey You, Hell No.”

Isaac Howlett
Titles: A Year Without Light
Release date: TBA
Isaac Howlett, the sentimental singer/songwriter behind Empathy Test, is going solo. He’s working with a new producer to complete songs once intended for the next Empathy Test album. To learn more about his solo plans, read my interview with Isaac.

Korine
Titles: A Flame in the Dark
Release date: March 28, 2025
On their 2023 album, Tear, Philadelphia duo Korine took their synthpop sound in a broader, lighter direction. I much prefer the darker corners of their previous release, The Night We Raise. But I’m keeping an open mind about their next album, A Flame in the Dark, whose title suggests they’ve found some middle ground.

Legend
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
Things might finally be heating up in the Legend camp. We haven’t heard new music from the genre-bending Icelandic duo since their 2017 album, Midnight Champion. They’ve been busy with other projects. When I reached out to them last year, they told me they’re planning to release an EP of new material in 2025.

Linea Aspear
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
The highly influential synth project Linea Aspera made a surprise return last year with “Mycelium,” their first new music since 2020. There’s nothing official yet, but I seriously doubt this song is a one-off. I suspect new singles are on the way and potentially album No. 3.

Massive Ego
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
After calling it quits in 2022 due to health concerns, Massive Ego arose from the dead in 2024 with “In Your Own Darkness.” The single explored frontman Marc Massive’s personal demons while introducing guitar courtesy of ex-Rosetta Stone guitarist Porl Young. Marc tells me they’ll release more singles, then an album later this year.

Mesh
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
It’s been nine long years since the last Mesh album, Looking Skyward. On Facebook, band members Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn have been sharing photos inside their studio, suggesting that new music is finally on the way. When I reached out to Mesh HQ, I was told they’re aiming to release their next album by the end of the year.

Optic
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
In 2024, Swedish duo Optic released four incredible singles, including last month’s “Giving You Nothing.” If they’d produced a full-length, it would have been a strong contender for album of the year. They’re planning to build on that momentum with a compilation album that will include new tracks and reworked versions of older material.

Pale Meridians
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
Emerging act Pale Meridians is one of my favorite new bands on the scene for their undeniable melodies and a fantastic, charismatic voice. They had hoped to release their debut album last year, but it was delayed. We did get one incredible single, “Solitary Heart,” that whets our appetites for more. They tell me the album is definitely coming this year.

Promenade Cinema
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
UK synthpop duo Promenade Cinema is one of the best synthpop bands in the world, thanks to a pair of sublime, story-driven albums, Living Ghosts and Exit Guides. Their third album is on the way this year. They’ve been testing out some of the new songs at recent live shows and getting great feedback.

Q Lazzarus
Titles: Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus
Release date: February 21, 2025
If you’ve been to a goth-industrial club in the last 30 years, you know the iconic song “Goodbye Horses” from mystery artist Q Lazzarus. It is among my favorite songs of all time. The story behind Q Lazzarus will finally be told in a new documentary that examines the life of unsung artist Diane Luckey. A trove of unreleased Q Lazzarus songs accompanies the doc. I have no idea what to expect of this music, but I am intrigued.

Rupesh Cartel
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
Swedish duo Rupesh Cartel have completed their next album, which is set for release this year. Based on their Facebook posts, it looks like they recorded it in a mobile studio van. First single “Down This Road” toys with this driving theme.

Tobias Bernstrup
Titles: TBA
Release date: TBA
Dark Italo maestro Tobias Bernstrup plans to release his seventh studio album this year. He’s been teasing the album with a handful of superb singles, including “Legend,” “Chiaroscuro,” and last year’s “And the Smile.”

Torul
Titles: Superposition
Release date: February 14, 2025
In 2023, the Slovenian synthpop band Torul released End Less Dreams, a somewhat darker album for the project informed by the COVID years. They’re back this year with their ninth studio album, Superposition, which promises bigger bops based on upbeat first single “Just Go” and the album’s dramatic cover art.

VNV Nation
Title: Construct // Destruct
Release date: March 28, 2025
We’re barely two years out from VNV Nation’s last full-length, Electric Sun, and the next album is already on deck. In fact, two albums are coming this year. VNV plans for “two albums of opposites, both in sound and emotion.” Construct, the more positive of the two sets, arrives first in March, followed by Destruct weeks later. They’ll eventually be collected in a limited-edition box set.

X Marks the Pedwalk
Title: Insomnia
Release date: TBA
The long-running German project X Marks the Pedwalk have experienced a storied career that includes embracing Skinny Puppy style electro as well as foretelling the futurepop era. Over the last ten years, they’ve emerged as reliable architects of modern synthpop. Mastermind Sevren Ni-Arb and vocalist Estefania are hard at work on their next album, reportedly called Insomnia.
