10 best synthpop music videos of 2025

Let’s get this out of the way: AI is here. It’s everywhere. It’s not going away. I spotted it in hundreds of synthpop music videos I watched this year. I’m not necessarily opposed to AI, though I have serious concerns about how it exploits artists’ work and impacts the environment. Given those issues, if you’re gonna use AI, it better blow my fucking mind.

A few of the videos I considered for this list were made with AI. At least two of them were about the perils of AI. You could swallow the irony with a glass of milk. I enjoyed watching them, but they did not blow my fucking mind. The videos that did blow my mind this year were made with practical effects, digital wizardry, and, in one case, old-school stop-motion animation.

With that out of the way, here’s my countdown of the best synthpop music videos of the year (AI or not—but mostly not). Next week, I’ll reveal my favorite new artist of the year, then we’ll start counting down 2025’s best songs. Follow me on Facebook or Instagram if you want to keep up with everything. You can also subscribe to my RSS feed on your favorite news reader.

If you’re gonna write a synthpop song about people’s faces, I’m gonna need to see some faces. Lots of ’em. A Spell Inside deliver. Their “Faces” video features a modular screen that rapidly shuffles eyes, mouths, noses, foreheads of people from all different backgrounds. It is mesmerizing to watch. They keep the pace moving with neon light effects and shots of the band singing. But honestly, I could watch that wall of flickering faces all day.

Danny Blu wields one of the most distinctive visual aesthetics in the scene—wild, sexy, fierce, a little bit devilish. It’s always a treat to see what he’s wearing in his latest era, and the video for his cover of Lady Gaga’s “Perfect Celebrity” is an absolute feast. We get seven Danny Blus in one, dancing against a perp wall like a glam-goth police lineup. He cycles through neon-drenched fishnet, cobalt hair, leather bustiers, chain-metal jewelry, and more. Choose your icon.

Performance videos can be tricky to pull off, but Die Sexual turn their “Desire” visuals into a full-body adrenaline hit. The duo performs in a stark square room that erupts with red lights, strobes, razor-sharp graphics, and raw sensuality. The video captures the frenetic energy and pulse-pounding sexuality of their live shows. If you ever get the chance to see them live, do not miss it.

CZARINA makes this countdown for a third year running, cementing her status as one of the most visionary artists in the scene. Though “My Enemy” is a collaboration with dark electro acts Antibody and Binary Division, the video is pure Kitsunés—CZARINA and her husband Carlos’s production company. Their special effects just keep getting better. Set once again in the mythical landscape of Galicia, Spain, this one finds two CZARINAS—one light, one dark—battling atop a rocky coastline. It’s fierce, gorgeous, unmistakably CZARINA.

Normal Bias made my best-videos list last year with their seamlessly edited, horizontal-scroll masterpiece “Falling Down.” They didn’t release any new music this year, but they did drop a new video for one of the best tracks from last year’s Kingdom Come. For “Holy,” the duo smartly filmed at the decrepit Holy Land USA theme park in Connecticut, resulting in evocative shots of these two handsome devils posing among oversized, tacky crosses and crumbling Catholic attractions. The visuals give the song just the right dose of mocking charm.

Sleek Teeth cracked my best videos list last year with their narrative-driven “Endless” video. “Operating” doesn’t chase that same immersive storyline, but it delivers something just as compelling: sharp visuals and an electrifying look at the duo in action. Cult-like figures in white robes and gold masks do creepy things throughout, intercut with slick shots of the band performing—harmonizing into a pair of mics, smashing a drumstick into a pad, just radiating effortless cool.

By far the horniest video of the year, ESA’s “Golden House” is a slick, professionally shot mini-movie bursting with Caligula-esque Roman imagery and homoerotic swagger. Oiled-up bodybuilders flex their muscles, a wrestling match unfolds in a Turkish bathhouse, and near-naked frontman Jamie Blacker gets aggressively massaged before the whole thing erupts into a modern-day warehouse rave. It’s a lot—all intriguing, all stylishly filmed, and all very, very horny.

In the age of AI, Straight Razor’s “Suffering” video feels like a breath of fresh air—a lovingly crafted stop-motion mini-movie that’s as gothic as it is adorable. Animator Justin Burgos builds a doomed romance in a shadowy film-noir world, complete with a skeletal motorscooter and a wonderfully expressive Doberman who steals the show. The whole thing radiates Tim Burton-esque charm, all cool creepiness and meticulous detail, right down to a claymated version of frontman Omar Doom himself.

I’m stunned by what creative people can pull off on a shoestring budget. Seeming’s video for “Assassin’s Lovesong” packs the emotional wallop of a post-apocalyptic drama like Mad Max or The Last of Us, yet it needs no monster costumes or world-ending effects. There’s just the hint of a story about two people struggling to survive, an historic factory setting, and two quietly devastating performances. Little details do the heavy lifting: the bloody canvas bag, the circle of salt on the floor, the way Alex Reed lingers over a Korg MS-10, wrapped in wood paneling and lit like a sacred relic from a ruined world. The video reveals so little, yet conveys so much.

File this under: No Idea What I Just Watched But I’m Completely Mesmerized. Mexican darkwave icons La Bande-Son Imaginaire (“The Imaginary Soundtrack” in English) fuse Mexican cultural symbolism with electro-goth spectacle, creating a riot of imagery unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Their “Disco” video features Oaxacan devil dancers, desert landscapes, even legendary DJ Scorpio 69 as el diablo in monster boots and devil horns. Green screens, reverse footage, bursts of CGI, and costumes, costumes, costumes collide in joyful chaos. It’s completely weird, totally fascinating, and the most fun you’ll have watching a music video all year.