FM-84's closest relative in the Frekvenci archive is The Midnight, the other big name in sung, nostalgic synthwave. After that the picks split by what you want: Morgan Willis and Futurecop! for the dreamier side, and a handful of artists who share FM-84's label for the slightly more cinematic one.
A voice, a hook and a pop chord
FM-84 is Col Bennett. Vehlinggo describes him as San Francisco-based and says it first covered him in early 2015, though a later post notes a move to Scotland in 2021, which is the city the archive lists.[2] His debut album Atlas came out on 25 April 2016. Vehlinggo's review pairs the airy retrosynth with Ollie Wride's soaring vocals on the single "Running in the Night", calls the closing instrumental "Jupiter" a droney, cinematic piece in the manner of Vangelis and Tangerine Dream, and notes Clive Farrington, co-writer of When In Rome's "The Promise", as a collaborator.[1] The same page reports a new FM-84 single, "Radio", in April 2026 as the start of an Atlas follow-up cycle; it is not in our data yet.[2]
The archive lists four FM-84 releases, from 2016 to 2020: the album, a Josep & Kane remix of "Running in the Night" on Anjunabeats, the single "Bend & Break" (2019) and the Maverick EP (2020). With so few records, similarity ratings are noisy; what holds up is the tag cloud: synth-pop, dance, progressive house, power pop, dream pop, new wave and dreamwave. So the questions to ask of a neighbour are about voice and hook. Does it have a singer? Is there a chorus you can sing back? Those matter more here than arpeggios or drum sounds.
The sung neighbours
The Midnight (US, 26 releases, 2014–2025) is the first stop. Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan, whose early inspiration, per Wikipedia, was the Drive score, share retrowave, synth-pop, pop and dance tags with FM-84.[3] Endless Summer came out in 2016, the same year as Atlas. We map their own circle at If you like The Midnight: 10 artists to try next.
Morgan Willis (France, 19 releases, 2015–2026) carries dreamwave, 80s, dream pop and synth-pop tags; try Cosmophoria. ALEX (UK, 18 releases, 2016–2025) has dreamwave, new wave and synth-pop tags: X Expanded Edition. Futurecop! (UK, 18 releases, 2008–2025), whom Vehlinggo lists among Timecop1983's collaborators,[5] adds dream pop: Wind, Town & Flowers.
The label circle
The archive files Atlas under Electronic Purification Records, and at least four other artists share that label with FM-84: Powernerd (Austria, 11 releases), Miami Nights 1984 (Canada, 10), Lost Years (Sweden, 5) and Starcadian (US, 6). Lost Years, Magnus Larsson, is described by Vehlinggo as a Swedish pioneer of the style, with music in Kung Fury and the series Red Oaks.[4] Start with Black Waves, and with Midnight Signals, a film score from the same label.
A touch more romantic, a touch more rock
Timecop1983 (Netherlands, 23 releases) is gentler. Jordy Leenaerts told Vehlinggo he wants a "melancholic and romantic feeling";[5] start with Reflections, and see If you like Timecop1983: artists to try next for his circle. Scandroid (US, 26 releases) and Bart Graft (Ireland, 18) carry new wave and synth-pop tags and sound more band-like: Lost in the Datastream and Unending Desire.
Further out
Sunglasses Kid (UK, 21 releases) carries pop and synth-pop tags with a 0.72 similarity, one of the higher ratings; George Ergemlidze (Georgia, 18 releases, 2015–2020) has Dear WE; and Robots With Rayguns (US, 7 releases, 2010–2021) shares the Gem City Mastering label with Bend & Break: The Digital Life of Xanye Quest.
Picked from FM-84's tags and from the artists listed beside him on Electronic Purification Records and Gem City Mastering. Our Dreamwave: synthwave's soft, nostalgic side and Synthpop and synthwave: where the 1980s sound meets the revival explain the tags, and Retrowave: the name, the sound and where it overlaps synthwave places this sound in the wider scene. On the radio the Pop station (90.7 FM) has the hooks; for a calmer drive try the Night Drive station (92.0 FM).
Records to start with
- FM-84 · 2016 · Electronic Purification Records · LPThe debut album, with Ollie Wride's vocals and the lead single "Running in the Night".
- The Midnight · 2016 · Studio C4 · LPThe closest well-known sibling, from the same year.
- Lost Years · 2021 · Electronic Purification Records · LPOn Electronic Purification Records, the label the archive gives for Atlas.
- Starcadian · 2022 · Electronic Purification Records · LPA film score on the same label.
Sources
- New FM-84 album: Atlas · Vehlinggo, 25 Apr 2016
- Who is FM-84? · Vehlinggo
- The Midnight (band) (used as a map to its references) · Wikipedia
- A Quick Q&A with 80s Retrosynther Lost Years · Vehlinggo, 1 Nov 2015
- What Does the Future Hold for Timecop1983? · Vehlinggo, 1 Jul 2015