PopMatters is moving to WordPress. We will publish a few essays daily while we develop the new site. We hope the beta will be up sometime late next week.

Taylor Swift's "seven" Marks the End of Innocence

Taylor Swift's childhood has frequently acted as the rare domain that can neither be snatched by tabloids nor staked out by fans, but "seven" from her latest LP folklore presents a narrative of innocence dragged out of a child by abuse.

                                      
Books
    
        Morris Day Gives the Reader a Funky Take on a Life in Funk with 'On Time'
    
Christopher Laird

        03 Dec 2019
    
Books
    
        'Depeche Mode: Monument' Is Everything a Depeche Mode Fan Could Imagine
    
Mike Schiller

        08 Jan 2018
    
Music
    
        The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: The Echo of Pleasure
    
Chris Ingalls

        28 Aug 2017

Recent

Music

Com Truise: Iteration

On his first full-length album in five years, Seth Haley, a.k.a. Com Truise, unleashes his usual battery of vivid retro-synth anthems.

Music

Mew: Visuals

Visuals proves that Mew can carry on safely as a trio.

Music

Empire of the Sun: Two Vines (Deluxe)

The extravagant duo are back again, announcing themselves in exactly the manner you'd expect.

Music

Eyeless in Gaza: Picture the Day (A Career Retrospective 1981-2016)

This career-spanning anthology reveals not only Eyeless in Gaza’s import to the development of synthpop but also their ongoing commitment to exploring and even breaking the boundaries of that genre in consistently rewarding ways.

Music

Crystal Castles: Amnesty (I)

After a less-than-cordial breakup, the new iteration of Crystal Castles shows that the vocalist plays a major role in the sound of the band.

Music

Kristin Kontrol: X-Communicate

As Kristin Kontrol, Kristin Welchez has brilliantly shown that her brand of mischief is as complex as it is loving. Trouble is still her name.

Dustin Ragucos

Music

Flint Eastwood - "Glitches" (video)

Detroit’s Flint Eastwood is an entity thriving on evolution, both in the sonic and visual realms.

Music

Emanuel and the Fear - "Meredith" (audio) (premiere)

The first single from Emanuel and the Fear's upcoming third LP, Primitive Smile, is a charming and intricate slice of romantic synthpop.

Music

Petite Noir: La Vie Est Belle / Life Is Beautiful

La Vie Est Belle / Life is Beautiful ushers in a new pop force.

Music

Rabid Young - "Not Enough" (audio) (premiere)

Las Vegas synthpop quintet releases debut song full of shimmering synths and mid-tempo beats.

Music

Man Without Country: Maximum Entropy

If you don't like music, then you'll adore Maximum Entropy.

Music

Rush Midnight: Rush Midnight Deluxe Edition

If you like synth pop colored with the flavor of New Age dance tunes without a hint of passion or the erotic you'll love these sterile shenanigans.

Music

Ballet School: The Dew Lasts an Hour

Ballet School is an indelible entry into the synth pop genre, and are at least taking the approach somewhat differently by using guitars.

Music

The Rentals: Lost In Alphaville

Matt Sharp's side project-turned-band is back, and they sound just like most of you remember them. But is that really such a good thing?

Music

Roses: Dreamlover EP

The Dreamlover EP is, well, quite dreamy and is something to appraise fairly highly.

Music

GusGus: Mexico

Mexico wants to show us how GusGus has changed and matured while still clinging to things that seem distant and remote.

Music

Dear Frederic - "Stare Into the Light and Dana" (video) (Premiere)

Dear Frederic's latest music video combines the songs "Stare Into the Light" and "Dana" into a single, slow-mo heavy short film.

Music

Night Club - "Need You Tonight" (audio) (Premiere)

The LA-based dark synthpop duo Night Club are at their wildly fun game yet again following last year's Love Casualty EP. Here's the duo's latest venture, a cover of INXS' "Need You Tonight".

Music

Little Dragon: Nabuma Rubberband

Delectably strange pop from the consistent Swedish quartet.

Music

Architecture in Helsinki: Now + 4Eva

Lacking their usual frenetic pace and diverse instrumentation, Architecture in Helsinki put out something surprisingly boring

Music

Ghost Beach: Blonde

Whether it's the jaunty beats, syncopated guitar rhythms, or dramatic drops, Blonde feels like the soundtrack to a neon-swathed beach house party, a joy ride on a cool summer night, or a nostalgia-fueled recreation of the original passion pits.

Music

Jesu: Everyday I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came

Everyday I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came, is the poppiest, most beautiful, and, arguably, most satisfying collection from Jesu in recent memory.

Music

Night Club: Love Casualty

Night Club is unabashedly forward in its basic take on dark, '80s-indebted synth pop, but it's a fun and even goofy ride for five concise tracks.

Music

Team Ghost: Rituals

If you were wondering what Nicolas Fromageau has been doing since quitting the synth-pop group M83 in 2004, well, here’s your answer.

Music

Mozart's Sister: Hello EP

Mozart's Sister has all the energy and daring of the truest ignored sibling.

Music

Parenthetical Girls: Privilege (Abridged)

The sickness Zac Pennington details is worth the pain.

Music

OMD Will Release New Album, 'English Electric', in April

A sublime reason for early Monday happiness... a brand new OMD album is on the way April 9th that the duo describes as a "12-track letter to technology, space, love".

Music

Shiny Toy Guns: III

Your feelings towards III will pretty much depend on how you feel about your music being polished down to a glistening sheen of chrome.

Music

Memory Tapes: Grace/Confusion

Tons of catchy hooks and vibrant synths make the new Memory Tapes disc something to be savored.

Music

Air Traffic Controller: Nordo

Air Traffic Controller can't decide whether to be synth pop or chamber pop.

Stephen Haag

Music

Junk Culture: Wild Quiet

One-time Girl Talk tourmate gets introspective, turns to confessional bedroom synth-pop on his full-length debut

Music

Doseone: G Is For Deep

On G Is For Deep, Doseone goes for a take on synth-pop that veers between being worringly eccentric and, er, crazily audacious. Then again, Doseone has always been a wild-card, and this might be his wildest album yet.

Music

Hot Chip: In Our Heads

Infectious synth hooks, dancefloor-ready bass, and mature, heartfelt lyricism... Hot Chip have done it again.

Music

Burning Hearts: Extinctions

On its sophomore album, the Finnish indie pop band observes the fierce order of the natural world with a detached, yet tuneful, approach.

Music

Laulan Sinule: Debüüt

The possibility of becoming seriously romantic is always there, the music is always denying it, resisting it, and it lets you see that it's resisting it.

Deanne Sole

Reviews

MetalMatters: The Best New Heavy Metal Albums of September 2020

Collapse Expand Reviews

BROWSE ALL ALBUM REVIEWS

Features

20 Hits of the '80s You Might Not Have Known Are Covers

Collapse Expand Features

PM Picks

Collapse Expand Pm Picks

PopMatters is moving to WordPress. We will publish a few essays daily while we develop the new site. We hope the beta will be up sometime late next week.

Taylor Swift's childhood has frequently acted as the rare domain that can neither be snatched by tabloids nor staked out by fans, but "seven" from her latest LP folklore presents a narrative of innocence dragged out of a child by abuse.

On his first full-length album in five years, Seth Haley, a.k.a. Com Truise, unleashes his usual battery of vivid retro-synth anthems.

Visuals proves that Mew can carry on safely as a trio.

The extravagant duo are back again, announcing themselves in exactly the manner you'd expect.

This career-spanning anthology reveals not only Eyeless in Gaza’s import to the development of synthpop but also their ongoing commitment to exploring and even breaking the boundaries of that genre in consistently rewarding ways.

After a less-than-cordial breakup, the new iteration of Crystal Castles shows that the vocalist plays a major role in the sound of the band.

As Kristin Kontrol, Kristin Welchez has brilliantly shown that her brand of mischief is as complex as it is loving. Trouble is still her name.

Detroit’s Flint Eastwood is an entity thriving on evolution, both in the sonic and visual realms.

The first single from Emanuel and the Fear's upcoming third LP, Primitive Smile, is a charming and intricate slice of romantic synthpop.

La Vie Est Belle / Life is Beautiful ushers in a new pop force.

Las Vegas synthpop quintet releases debut song full of shimmering synths and mid-tempo beats.

If you don't like music, then you'll adore Maximum Entropy.

If you like synth pop colored with the flavor of New Age dance tunes without a hint of passion or the erotic you'll love these sterile shenanigans.

Ballet School is an indelible entry into the synth pop genre, and are at least taking the approach somewhat differently by using guitars.

Matt Sharp's side project-turned-band is back, and they sound just like most of you remember them. But is that really such a good thing?

The Dreamlover EP is, well, quite dreamy and is something to appraise fairly highly.

Mexico wants to show us how GusGus has changed and matured while still clinging to things that seem distant and remote.

Dear Frederic's latest music video combines the songs "Stare Into the Light" and "Dana" into a single, slow-mo heavy short film.

The LA-based dark synthpop duo Night Club are at their wildly fun game yet again following last year's Love Casualty EP. Here's the duo's latest venture, a cover of INXS' "Need You Tonight".

Delectably strange pop from the consistent Swedish quartet.

Lacking their usual frenetic pace and diverse instrumentation, Architecture in Helsinki put out something surprisingly boring

Whether it's the jaunty beats, syncopated guitar rhythms, or dramatic drops, Blonde feels like the soundtrack to a neon-swathed beach house party, a joy ride on a cool summer night, or a nostalgia-fueled recreation of the original passion pits.

Everyday I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came, is the poppiest, most beautiful, and, arguably, most satisfying collection from Jesu in recent memory.

Night Club is unabashedly forward in its basic take on dark, '80s-indebted synth pop, but it's a fun and even goofy ride for five concise tracks.

Sadly, New Order doesn't quite have the same old spark any more...

If you were wondering what Nicolas Fromageau has been doing since quitting the synth-pop group M83 in 2004, well, here’s your answer.

Mozart's Sister has all the energy and daring of the truest ignored sibling.

The sickness Zac Pennington details is worth the pain.

A sublime reason for early Monday happiness... a brand new OMD album is on the way April 9th that the duo describes as a "12-track letter to technology, space, love".

Your feelings towards III will pretty much depend on how you feel about your music being polished down to a glistening sheen of chrome.

Tons of catchy hooks and vibrant synths make the new Memory Tapes disc something to be savored.

Air Traffic Controller can't decide whether to be synth pop or chamber pop.

One-time Girl Talk tourmate gets introspective, turns to confessional bedroom synth-pop on his full-length debut

On G Is For Deep, Doseone goes for a take on synth-pop that veers between being worringly eccentric and, er, crazily audacious. Then again, Doseone has always been a wild-card, and this might be his wildest album yet.

Infectious synth hooks, dancefloor-ready bass, and mature, heartfelt lyricism... Hot Chip have done it again.

On its sophomore album, the Finnish indie pop band observes the fierce order of the natural world with a detached, yet tuneful, approach.

The possibility of becoming seriously romantic is always there, the music is always denying it, resisting it, and it lets you see that it's resisting it.