What is synthwave?

Synthwave is a retro-futuristic electronic style inspired by 1980s film scores, video games and neon nostalgia — lush synths and steady pulse.

Emerging in the mid-2000s, synthwave (and its cousins outrun, chillwave and retrowave) recreates the sound of 1980s soundtracks: analog-style synth pads, arpeggiated basslines, gated reverb drums and a warm, nostalgic glow. It's the music of imagined night drives and sunset skylines.

In its chill and ambient forms, synthwave slows the pulse and foregrounds the pads, becoming excellent focus and evening music — nostalgic and atmospheric without demanding attention. It pairs perfectly with a pixel skyline and a neon dusk.

It's nostalgia engineered into sound: a decade that may never have existed exactly this way, rendered in warm analog synths.

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