Last year I stumbled onto the band Nation of Language (mentioned in my recent Unburied Treasures post). Their sound got me digging deeper into a realm of bands that I see as today’s “Second Wave of New Wave.”
If you search for any description of “New Wave” music what you’ll most likely find will focus more on a historical period of music rather than a genre. You’ll hear the story of bands in New York and the UK breaking away from the punk rock scene, evolving a new sound and eventually a new ethos that replaced the aggression and ideals-first mentality of punk to instead prioritize musicality, production value, and more accessible music.
What I find interesting about this common use of “New Wave” is that while there is typically a reference to synthesizers in the sound, the term is used to cover such a large time span and such a huge range of acts (from Blondie to Duran Duran to Talking Heads to Tears for Fears) that it leaves the term fairly useless as a descriptor of what the music really sounds like.
Today though, at least in the corners of the internet where music nerds pay attention to this stuff, I see the label “New Wave” getting new legs as a genre name and one that’s seen a recent boom given older Gen Zer’s falling for the music of their parents’ youth. Like most labels in today’s music, this “Second Wave of New Wave” is somewhat subjective, either overlapping or containing things like “synth-pop” and “coldwave” depending on your viewpoint. But at it’s foundation, beyond the synthesizer heavy sound and mid-tempo, dance-able rhythm patterns, is that bittersweet or even melancholy vibe that goes all the way back to the roots of 80’s era “New Wave” and bands like Joy Division, New Order, or The Cure. And in my opinion, this is where the magic lies: in the juxtaposition of the downhearted dance tune.
So with that intro, here are some favorite Modern New Wave finds from my recent Bandcamp crate digging.
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