A Night Walk in The Underground Forest: New Synth Pop, Alt Pop + Electronic Music We Loved
Welcome to A Night Walk in The Underground Forest - a series where I hand-select new synth pop, alt pop, electronic, and alternative music I loved.
This edition features Avidel, Sea Doctor, KIMOSABE, alice vere, Paycheque, Catherine Moan, Cherry Bomb, salem byrd, Mel 4Ever, Vivian Wilson, and George Riley.
Featuring an analog twisted soundscape that gets more surreal as time goes on; a song with a vocal melody and beat reminiscent of mid-00s sugary R&B; a song that it sounds like an oddly alluring previously undiscovered song from the 1980s; a song that sounds like synthpop floating to your ears from the abyss outside of town; a heavenly, plush early 2000s pop/R&B track that pokes fun at looksmaxxxing; a song that sounds like indie pop made in Garage Band that will hit you with a wave of nostalgia, a song that has some Jade and Allie XCX vibes and more!
A Night Walk in The Underground Forest 🌙 Synth Pop • Electronic Pop • Alt Pop & Electronic
Sea Doctor - Stuck in Space
I came across this on Bandcamp and saw that it was taken from the official soundtrack to ‘Dolly Daydream’, a YouTube show by artist Bunny McCarthy.
‘Dolly Daydream’ opens with a pink toy dollhouse, and as someone who has recently been working with dollhouses and miniatures for some music visuals, I knew I had found something I was going to love. The show is set in a delightful, slightly off-kilter pink world, possessing a magic not dissimilar to ‘At Home With Amy Sedaris’ and some of the short movies I used to stumble across on Vimeo. The visual world is made all the more kitsch as a result of the magical analog twisted soundscapes of Sea Doctor.
‘Stuck in Space’ is taken from the soundtrack album, the plush pads reminding me of the opening of PinkPantheress’ Illegal’. As the track progresses, the soundscape gets more surreal, with some tinkling, shimmering textures that sound like gems falling from space.
Connect with Sea Doctor
Website | Instagram
Connect with Bunny McCarthy
Website | Instagram
Paycheque - Repeater
I saw a collage featuring a blurred mannequin, and I was summoned by its call.
This is taken from the LA synthpop duo’s album Paycheque, and it sounds like an oddly alluring, previously undiscovered song from the 1980s. It opens with sugary pads (which, I believe, might be a Roland JUNO DI, I know this from being a fellow user myself), with a go-getter synth-pop beat
This is kind of dreamy, in a strange way; it feels distant, like a mesmerizing person who is always slightly out of reach (think Nicole Kidman in ‘To Die For’ or similar ice-princess-adjacent characters who have something going on underneath the surface that you can’t quite put your finger on). It also feels very glamorous.
Connect with Paycheque
Instagram
Connect with Mansions and Millions
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky
alice vere - play it back
Textures that sound like glittering plumes of pink vapor greet your ears, paired with vocals that sound like they are floating to your ears from across the desert plains. The vocal melody and beat are so reminiscent of mid-00s sugary R&B (a sound that I will forever associate with the Britney Spears perfume era) - a signature sound that I'm desperate to hear more of.
This features the talents of producer florent!a. - the chorus is a pop earworm, I loved it.
Connect with alice vere
Instagram
Connect with florent!a
Instagram
Connect with tiatime
Instagram
Catherine Moan - Undo Undo
This is taken from the electro-pop artist's album ‘CM Ultra’ which will be out July 31st (pre-order on Bandcamp here).
The opening of this reminded me of the Johnny Jewel and Soarse Ronan song from the ‘Lost River’ soundtrack, a quality that will endear me to any song immediately.
Ghostly vocals float over a vast, all-consuming electronic soundscape, with an undercurrent of nostalgia and melancholy thrumming underneath. This sounds like synthpop floating to your ears from the abyss outside of town.
Connect with Catherine Moan
Instagram
Mel 4Ever - Call Me Gorgeous ft. Vivian Wilson
This opens with Mel 4Ever asking Vivian Wilson questions such as “is facial harmony just astrology for incels?” or “can someone become too self-actualized?” (in my opinion, yes, it is very difficult to have an interesting conversation with someone whose entire existence revolves around self-actualization/optimization/whatever other ization that promises to exorcise you of any traits associated with being human).
This opens like a heavenly, plush mid-00s R&B-flavoured pop track, with candy sweet vocals and lace-covered outfits. The chorus is addictive bubblegum pop with the artist mimicking looksmaxxer bonesmashing (when I googled this recently, the first thing that popped up was ‘bonesmashing routine PDF???’). I love this sound - I think this is one of my favourite Mel 4Ever releases (and I have been here since day one I will have you know).
Connect with Mel 4Ever
Website | Instagram
Connect with Vivian Wilson
Instagram
best i can – salem byrd
Sometimes, a certain scent or perfume will hit you, and you will be inadvertently submerged within a vivid memory and a wave of nostalgia.
The opening of this had a similar effect on me; it sounds like a time that has passed, it sounds like a memory. ‘best i can’ has a Garage Band indie-pop vibe to it that I love; the vocals drifting down from somewhere amongst the clouds of a 1990s sky.
Connect with salem byrd
Instagram
Cherry Bomb - Sorry You're Not Sorry
‘Sorry You're Not Sorry’ kind of reminds me of Jade and Allie XCX. It opens with an explosion of electronic textures and strings, all coming together to form a glittering wave of unapologetic glamour and fabulousness.
The verses feature an organ thrumming underneath, a homage to the theme; my favorite lyrics being in the bridge “tighter and tighter/my knuckles are whiter than yours”
On the song, the artist says, “'Sorry You're Not Sorry' is for the pivotal moment when you stop begging closed doors to open and make peace with the grief that comes with choosing closure over receiving it. It's no surprise pain and pleasure are processed in the same part of the brain, and perhaps that's why I often blur the line between the two in music."
Connect with Cherry Bomb
Instagram | Facebook
George Riley - Private Life
I demand that this be in the top 10 songs of the summer.
This is the music video for a song from the artist's 2025 mixtape ‘More Is More’. I love the glitchy sampling style of the main instrument (strings, I believe), the flow of the vocals and lyrics, and how they all come together to form a flawless, thoroughly addictive song that never lets you go from the moment you hit play. There is an elusive glamour to this - it is the work of a genius.
Connect with George Riley
Instagram | Facebook | X
KIMOSABE - 30510
I came across this on my Bandcamp travels. There is a quality to this that is reminiscent of the opaque mystery at the core of Boards of Canada’s music.
The production is impeccable; the soundscape has an allure that captures you immediately. I noticed it was tagged as being Baltimore club and Jersey Club, two genres I didn’t know too much about (I believe Jersey Club evolved from Baltimore club) - I will be cancelling all my plans and spending the entire weekend finding out more.
Connect with KIMOSABE
Instagram
Avidel - A real History
This is taken from the album ‘Part of my journey’. I love the bassline in this - there is something wicked, something cartoonish about it that I love. The world of this song feels off-kilter in a way, like it is from a very strange video game from the 1990s. The pads that come in as the song progresses make it all the more surreal.
Connect with Avidel
Instagram | Facebook
Spotify 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
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