1. Home
2. Blog
3. Music Spotlight

A Night Walk: New Synth Pop, Alt Pop + Electronic Music We Loved

Welcome to A Night Walk in The Underground Forest - a curated series where I hand-select my favourite new releases.

Featuring niina, Baileyrp, ARK IDENTITY, LAVBLAST, demotapes, moistbreezy, Tiny Magnetic Pets, Animal Scream, Nicole Atkins, billie-angela and DJ SUN.

By Eimear O SullivanMusicngear Editor

Featuring: a song I would have on my walkman in the mid-00s; a track that that sounds like the velveteen luxuries of 1970s first class air travel; a song that is a brooding blend of indie textures blended and noir dream-pop; an oceanic trip-hop song; a sugary 1990s RnB/pop flavored jam; a song that has clouds of shimmering pink sounds descending over your ears with vocals reminiscent of Lily Allen; a track that has the quality of a song that influenced generations of people to get into music and become songwriters; an electronic beat that has PinkPantheress levels of addictiveness, and more!

Follow the playlist
A Night Walk in The Underground Forest 🌙  Synth Pop  • Electronic Pop  •  Alt Pop & Electronic

moistbreezy - After the Rain 

I am currently putting together a list of electronic artists everyone on the planet should know about and moistbreezy is at the top of this. ‘After the Rain’ is her newest production, featuring a blend of rave elements with trance and eurodance-style vocals, before exploding (I really mean it) into the chorus. I would have blared this on my walkman in the mid-00s. It sounds familiar while also sounding fresh and new, which is the hallmark of a great artist and producer. No one does it like moistbreezy.

Connect with moistbreezy
Website / Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | X

DJ SUN - Pan Am Flight 1701

Your luxurious journey throughout the skies begins here. ‘Pan Am Flight 1701’ sounds like diving headfirst into a plush velveteen chair in the first class lounge of a 1970s flight. 

This is a blend of soulful deep house and electronica, wrapped up with the warmth of 1990s electronic music. Take a minute, recline, look out as you soar through the pink skies - the future is bright. 

Note: This is taken from the album ‘Loveletter’ which was initially released in 2022, the version on Bandcamp uploaded this week including remixes and different versions and so forth.

Connect with DJ SUN
Instagram | Facebook | X

ARK IDENTITY - Signals

Press Photo by Pablo Rincon

This entices you into the shadows, inviting you to murky corners, as you navigate blindly through the dark. A wave of brooding indie textures blended with noir dream-pop sweeps you off your feet and captivates you, like looking into the abyss, unable to tear yourself away.

The lyrics “Are you getting bitter now?/Am I getting too loud?/Searching for a sign” really stuck with me. 

On the song, Noah Mroueh shares, "To me, 'Signals' speaks to the way we're constantly trying to read people, moments and emotions. We send signals, we receive them, and sometimes we misread them or miss them completely. There's something really interesting in that uncertainty."

He continues, "It surprised me. It didn't end up being the song we set out to make, but that's what made it feel special. It came from letting go of the original plan and following what felt right in the moment. While we didn't meet the sync brief, I'm proud of what we created together that day."

Connect with ARK IDENTITY
Instagram | Facebook | X

billie-angela - Temporary Something 

I came across this earworm on Instagram, forgot to save it, and was so hell bent on finding it that I went through my entire internet search history for the month just so I could relocate it. ‘Temporary Something’ is such a sugary 1990s RnB/pop flavored jam with divine harmonies and a chorus that will never leave you (it also brings to mind the cloud-like wonders present in Ariana Grande’s Sweetener). 10/10.

Connect with billie-angela
X | Instagram 

LAVBLAST, хокки - время-вода

This sounds like the opening to a spiritual CD from the 1990s, which progresses into oceanic trip-hop flowing over a bass synth that sounds like the one from Orbital’s ‘Halcyon On and On’. The vocals are bewitching, the whole thing kind of feeling like a siren call, hypnotizing you and coaxing you into the deep blue. 

Connect with LAVBLAST
Instagram 

Tiny Magnetic Pets - Lost My Guiding Light (Again)

Photo by Conor Kerr

This is taken from the Dublin-Belfast synthwave trio’s new EP Astralux. It opens with warm electronic textures that sound like the sun rising in a blood-red sky, in a way that feels meditative and anticipatory. 

A beat comes in, making it all the more hypnotic, the wave of accompanying synths feeling like something from a memory. The vocals are heavenly wisps flowing over the instrumental, which takes on a slightly darker flair as things progress. Fantastic. 

Connect with Tiny Magnetic Pets
Instagram | Facebook 

niina - fuck it

Clouds of shimmering pink sounds descend to your ears, over which vocals reminiscent of Lily Allen float. In general, I am much too tightly wound, so I found this to be cathartic, as it allowed me to just let go and not take everything so seriously. I just love everything that niina does. 

Connect with niina
Instagram | X

Nicole Atkins - Trippin' On Teardrops 

Soaring is the only word for this. I love the classic, retro pop feel - it has the quality of a song that influenced generations of people to get into music and become songwriters. The vocals are divine, the chorus having a glorious theatrical vibe. In a climate where everything just starts to blend together, this fully stands on its own, full of life, vitality and soul. 

On the song, the artist shares, “I wrote ‘Trippin’ on Teardrops’ during a long period of time where I was having all these insane sleep issues. Never being able to fall asleep and then waking up sometimes after two days of sleep. It was like a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. Burnout? Maybe. Depression? Mostly because of sleep issues. And it was at a time where it seemed like the world was business as usual and I was watching it all go by in my dreams.”

Connect with Nicole Atkins
Instagram | Facebook | X

demotapes - can't get you out of my head

I randomly came across this on YouTube and became addicted to it within seconds. I am talking about PinkPantheress levels of addictiveness, praise I do not throw about lightly. ‘can't get you out of my head’ sounds like the beginning of a summer night out under pink skies, the air glowing and shimmering with anticipation. Top tier production.

Connect with demotapes
Instagram | X
 

Baileyrp - for once

I love the 1990s RPG game-style music video for this, which is what drew me to the song. Baileyrp is an independent artist from Colorado whose creativity is off the charts (her website is so cool, see below):

The song features glitchy electronics paired with spacious sound design and a mournful digital heart at the centre. I loved it.

Connect with Baileyrp
Website / Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook

Follow the playlist

About Eimear O Sullivan

Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)

Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com

LinkedInFacebookInstagram