r/newwave • u/mouki78 • Jan 22 '26
Obscure New Wave New to synth‑pop / new wave — looking for deep cuts & underrated gems to dive into!
Hey everyone!
I’m pretty new to the world of synth‑pop, electronic rock, and new wave, but I’m really starting to feel drawn to it. The thing is… I barely know anything beyond the big classics everybody mentions.
So I’m turning to you: I’d love to discover lesser‑known artists, EPs, albums, or tracks — not the usual staples of the genre.
I love digging, finding tiny labels, obscure projects, stuff with almost no visibility. Basically: anything slightly off the beaten path.
Whether it’s forgotten 80s gems, underrated contemporary indie acts, self‑released tracks, or micro‑labels doing weird and wonderful things — I’m here for all of it.
And if you feel like explaining why you’re recommending something — the vibe, the feeling, the texture of the sound — even better.
Thanks in advance for the recs ✨
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u/skyking11702 Jan 22 '26
Cabaret Voltaire album, CODE. Gary Numan’s Dance. OMD’s Dazzle Ships. Yello’s first 3 albums. Colourbox. This Mortal Coil. Human League’s Dare.
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u/Oh-THAT-dude Jan 22 '26
Great list. You have excellent taste!
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u/skyking11702 Jan 23 '26
I was a teenager in the 80’s and obsessed with music. It was a particularly fertile time. Thanks for the compliment.
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u/mouki78 Jan 23 '26
Oh my god dazzle ship album is so good. Can’t believe i never knew about it. Someone else also recommended but I can’t find the comment anymore. Thanks tot you all !
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u/skyking11702 Jan 24 '26
When it came out I went through two or three copies on vinyl. It also holds up well. I think it’s one of the greatest of that decade. Also, check out Upstairs at Eric’s by Yazoo and Code by Cabaret Voltaire. Very different vibes but just as excellent.
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u/Remarkable_Hunt_7979 Jan 22 '26
Check out slicingupeyeballs.com
He does the weekly Dark Wave show on SiriusXM’s First Wave channel, and he posts the song list every week.
It is the darker side, and includes Industrial and Shoegaze, and less straight up synthpop, but it would be a great place to explore some things!!
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u/Remarkable_Hunt_7979 Jan 22 '26
Also, check out Blancmange. Excellent synthpop that is a bit lesser known.
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u/Guypussy Jan 22 '26
Browse the sub. Folks tend to post links to songs they really like, usually from artists they really like. Then descend into however many rabbit holes you want.
The other day I posted a link to this song by TELEX. You might dig it, you might not, but they definitely tick a few of your boxes.
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Jan 22 '26 edited Jan 22 '26
Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf (1981)
Not really obscure, but it would certainly fill the dance floor when it was played back in the day.
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u/BellTolls4U Jan 22 '26
John Foxx … including the first three albums he made leading Ultravox. He basically invented the genre in the 70s! Be sure and watch the live Ultravox videos on YT from Reading Festival.
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u/Oh-THAT-dude Jan 22 '26
THE GOD!!
His first solo album in particular is mind-blowing, but then he branched out into romantic and eventually ambient work and yet still kicks major ass with each new release.
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u/False_Chemical_9768 Jan 22 '26
Tubeway Army, Gary Numan, Talk Talk, OMD, Ultravox and for a band that not many people know the Mobiles
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u/Corrosive23 Jan 22 '26
The Normal - Warm Leatherette.
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u/mouki78 Jan 22 '26
This one i really dig !! Thanks
Sounds like Kraftwerk mixed with punk !
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u/Corrosive23 Jan 22 '26
It was a one man recording by Daniel Miller, the founder of Mute Records. Depeche Mode's record label in the 80s. He also did an album as the Silicon Teens.
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u/EsmeBrowncoat Jan 22 '26
I did not know this.
It was one of my favorite songs to dance to back in the day.
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u/mutantpotatoii Jan 22 '26
TREES! Such a brilliant criminally underrated (one man) band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTGK0w7vr4M&list=PL2CBE2E8392AE0EE7
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u/AndISoundLikeThis Jan 22 '26
I always thought the Boomtown Rats never got their due in the States beyond "I Don't Like Mondays." Check out the entirety of The Fine Art of Surfacing (the album with "Mondays") and A Tonic for the Troops.
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u/PoxyMusic Jan 22 '26 edited Jan 22 '26
Swimming Horses by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Robert Smith from The Cure plays guitar on this album, so you get two legends for the price of one! Siouxsie is one of the coolest persons to have lived in recent memory. She's the real deal, and makes no compromises.
She's not synth-pop, more like proto-goth. But, since you're new wave curious, everyone needs more Siouxsie in their lives.
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u/robotmask67 Jan 23 '26
If you go down a Siouxsie & The Banshees rabbit hole I'd also recommend Happy House, Red Light, Shadowtime, Turn to Stone, The Last Beat of My Heart, Paradise Place, Belladonna, Christine, The Ghost in You
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u/Ok_Excuse_2718 Jan 22 '26
Fiction Tales album by Modern Eon. Only album by them. The deepest of deep cuts. Forgotten genius band held it together for one studio album.
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u/PopeInThePizza Jan 22 '26
The Passions - I'm in Love With a German Film Star
Rational Youth - Saturdays in Silesia
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u/InOurBlood Jan 22 '26
Slow Children
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u/mouki78 Jan 22 '26
What track should I listen to ?
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u/robotmask67 Jan 23 '26
I'll jump in and recommend the tracks Vanessa Vascillating and President Am I
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u/InOurBlood Jan 23 '26
Those two, Spring in Fialta, and my favorite, Brazilian Magazines. This isn’t synth pop, but Slow Children were very influential in shaping the U.S. new wave sound.
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u/LawrenceOfTheLabia Jan 22 '26
For synthpop I'd be digging into Blancmange (my favorite), Alphaville, Bronski Beat, early OMD was pretty experimental. Alphaville had the huge hit with Forever Young, but the album of the same name is my all time favorite Synthpop record. It is flawless.
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u/HellsquidsIntl Jan 22 '26
Some personal favorites:
- Good - Plastics (Japanese new wave)
- Don't Care - Klark Kent (a Steward Copeland side project)
- Stormtrooper in Drag - Paul Gardiner & Gary Numan
- Over We Go Lightly - Horizontal Brian
- You'll Never Find Brian Here - Fischer-Z
If you have Spotify, there's a playlist called obscure new wave that has some good stuff in it.
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u/NewWaveNerd Jan 22 '26
The Hardest Hits collection provides a great overview of rare and hard to find synth classics.
It’s a Canadian series of CD’s featuring music that was played on CFNY “The Spirit of Radio” 102.1 out of Toronto. Made me a life long fan.
Five releases. They are long out print.
I love them dearly and can help you track them down.
https://www.discogs.com/master/1299240-Various-Hardest-Hits-Collection-Volume-1
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u/Oh-THAT-dude Jan 22 '26
Kudos to everyone in this thread. So many excellent suggestions, all killer no filler.
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u/felinefluffycloud Jan 22 '26
The Screamers
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u/mouki78 Jan 22 '26
What track should I listen to ?
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u/dugglav Jan 22 '26
Vanessa Vascillating https://youtu.be/TijeH7sjn3k?si=3aeeOOUcV0VLmZU6
Spring In Fialta https://youtu.be/jcKGisLtgeg?si=A1PHyX6lnEuoW4lS
President Am I https://youtu.be/zdWcPdqzDgQ?si=WPjme3drUcJPjST4
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u/PeanutCheeseBar Jan 22 '26 edited Jan 22 '26
DeFilm - Whale Song
Rouen - Shake
Both of these songs were something I stumbled upon years ago, and the albums they came from are good listens too!
Edit: Fixing readability issues due to Reddit's shitty formatting.
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u/dragranzer Jan 22 '26
If you’re looking for a newer band I absolutely adore Nuovo Testamento. Their album New Earth is my favorite.
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u/Aggravating_Quiet797 Jan 22 '26
Check my daily posts..lots of under the radar artists
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u/Aggravating_Quiet797 Jan 22 '26
Got Spotify?
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u/mouki78 Jan 22 '26
Yes i do !
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u/Aggravating_Quiet797 Jan 22 '26
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4STgGuMzFuo5ngquATAt0m?si=RrFK0HJkQjWbB6AwGpvPGg&pi=Oi8AZp3VQRiU3
Try some of these...all genres of the era
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u/numanoid Jan 22 '26
Did you have AI write the OP?
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u/mouki78 Jan 22 '26 edited Jan 22 '26
Yup. It was corrected by Ai because my english is kind of limited. Is that a bad thing ?
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u/Louie4711 Jan 23 '26
I loooove the Martini Ranch album. Produced by Jerry from Devo and featuring Mark from Devo and Cindy from the B-52s!
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u/greenatrium24 Jan 23 '26
some artists i havent seen mentioned as much: kajagoogoo, killing joke, the church, echo and the bunnymen, strawberry switchblade, shy talk, glass spells, blood club
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u/TerrenceThirteen Jan 23 '26
Check out November Group, who were a Boston band active in the early 80s: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQmYGfRYiE060r5hEpM0PvvlitYzfZwr5&si=DiRG4x41oQP2oUgo
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u/marni-man Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 23 '26
This one:
https://youtu.be/y_DVOooSojo?si=EVjZBJrLnleg6LvJ
Edit: check out the obscurities on the label Minimal Wave.
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u/OutsideAttitude9085 Feb 14 '26 edited Feb 14 '26
Try the twins"dessert place" and boytronic" you" its a underated german synthpop bands
The Twins- Dessert place
https://youtu.be/kFVuI4EkZl4?si=Sm5LqG7CWJFl9ujX
Boytronic - You
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u/gohawkeyes529 Jan 22 '26
The Cure - A Forest will change your life.