14 Under-The-Radar Synth-Pop Acts We Loved In 2014
9. Crater
Seattle is known for spawning groups that take raw, moody music and make it palatable to the masses, and female duo Crater continues that tradition. The pair uses some of industrial music’s essentials — harsh percussion, chainsaw synths — but redirects their energy into a melodic spiral of goth-pop.
10. Operators
Indie journeyman Dan Boeckner has proved himself to be one of the leaders of nu-wave with his bands Wolf Parade and Divine Fits. He goes even further down that road with Operators, fully giving into the synthesizer’s pure dance power. Using crappy ‘80s equipment as the backbone of EP1, Boeckner and his bandmates approached the music with a garage rock mentality, and ended up with lean and wiry dance music for people who don’t like dance music.
11. Allie X
Allie X’s debut single “Catch” was one of the most instantly satisfying pop songs of the year, like a Chvrches b-side reinterpreted by the post-Gaga diva class. The cagey Canadian singer followed that gem up with “Prime” then “Bitch,” both demonstrating that she’s not afraid to utilize off-kilter synth flourishes that may steal attention away from her off-kilter vocals.
12. Thomas Azier
As a Dutch musician based out of Berlin, Thomas Azier is as enamored with the brutality of early European techno as he is with the over-earnest wailing of, say, The Outfield’s “Your Love.” He brings those contradictory sensibilities together on his debut album Hylas, improbably fusing synthetic orchestrations, visceral clangs, and emotive choruses.
13. Little Daylight
From opening for Charli XCX to remixing Sky Ferreira, Little Daylight has been entrenched in the emerging pop scene for a couple years now. So, unsurprisingly, the Brooklyn band’s debut LP Hello Memory is a bright and thoroughly modern collection of full-bodied love songs littered with “oohs” and synth melodies that’ll burrow into your head.
14. Kid Moxie
L.A.-based singer Kid Moxie exists in an eclectic world of haunted ballads and driving Moroder-style sequences on new album 1888. It’s like chamber pop for the synth set, and that cinematic grandeur is no surprise since she enlisted help from Twin Peaks composer Angelo Badalamenti, as well as Darren Aronofsky’s film score guru Clint Mansell.
