There is a distinct feeling when the heavy, driving beat of a drum machine meets an arpeggiated analog synthesizer. It instantly transports the listener to an alternate reality: a neon-drenched metropolis, driving a sports car down a dark highway, bathed in pink and purple light.

This isn't an actual memory from the 1980s—it's the feeling elicited by Synthwave. Over the last decade, Synthwave (also known as Retrowave or Outrun) has grown from a niche community on internet forums into a globally recognized musical movement.

The Origins of the Outrun Aesthetic Synthwave didn't begin in the 1980s; it began in the mid-2000s as a nostalgic homage to 1980s action film soundtracks, video games, and pop culture. Early pioneers of the genre were deeply inspired by the cinematic scores of composers like John Carpenter (Escape from New York, Halloween), Vangelis (Blade Runner), and Tangerine Dream.

French house artists in the early 2000s, such as Daft Punk, Justice, and Kavinsky, laid the foundation for the genre by incorporating heavy, distorted synth lines and retro-futuristic themes. Kavinsky’s iconic 2010 track "Nightcall" (featured in the film Drive) is widely considered the catalyst that brought the Synthwave aesthetic directly into mainstream consciousness.

The Definitive Sound Palette What actually makes a track sound like Synthwave? The genre is heavily reliant on the instruments and production techniques (or the digital emulation of them) that defined the 80s:

• Analog Synthesizers: Instruments like the Roland Jupiter-8, Yamaha CS-80, and Minimoog provide the thick, warm basslines and soaring, delay-drenched leads.


• Drum Machines: The unmistakable snare slap and deep kick drum of classic units like the LinnDrum, Roland TR-808, and TR-909 are fundamental to the genre's rhythm.


• Gated Reverb: The aggressively unnatural snare sound, achieved by running a heavily reverberated snare drum through a noise gate, is a defining technique that originated in the 80s and is used extensively in Synthwave.

From Cyberpunk to Mainstream Pop What started as an underground internet phenomenon has steadily seeped into the highest levels of the music industry. The incredibly popular soundtrack to Netflix’s Stranger Things utilized authentic 80s synthesizers to invoke a sense of nostalgic dread, further cementing the genre's mass appeal.

Even major modern pop artists have embraced the Synthwave aesthetic. The Weeknd’s chart-topping album After Hours (and specifically the massive single "Blinding Lights") is essentially a polished, high-budget Synthwave track, relying entirely on the driving, retro synths that define the Outrun sound.

The beauty of Synthwave lies in its paradox: it is an entirely modern genre of electronic music that relies on the technology and cultural memory of the past. As long as creators continue to explore the boundaries of analog synthesis, this neon-soaked genre will continue to thrive. We are excited to hear the Synthwave creations our users upload to AjMix!