Kavinsky's closest neighbours in the Frekvenci archive are not the other night-drive acts. They are French electro and electro-house producers: Carpenter Brut is the best known, and Vector Seven and F.O.O.L share the electro-house tag. Kavinsky's records come from the dance floor, so the matches that fit best have a hard electro pulse under the neon.
A dance-floor producer on the night drive
Kavinsky was Vincent Belorgey, a producer from the Paris area who died in July 2026. He was found dead at his Paris home, aged 50, and no cause has been confirmed.[5] The archive lists ten of his releases, from the Teddy Boy EP in 2005 to three 2022 releases (Cameo, Renegade and Zenith), and seven of the ten came out on Record Makers.[2] The tags on them include french electro, electro house, french house, italo disco and electroclash alongside synthwave. That mix is why a plain "synthwave like Kavinsky" search tends to disappoint: his starting point was club music, not film scores.
Two songs carried him to a wide audience. "Nightcall", with vocals by Lovefoxxx of CSS, appeared on a 2010 EP and was used in the film Drive in 2011; the soundtrack also included College and Electric Youth's "A Real Hero".[1][2] His debut album OutRun followed in 2013.[2] No other artist in the archive shares a label with him, so everything below is matched on tags.
Through the French-electro door
Carpenter Brut (France, 19 releases, 2012–2026) is tagged french electro, electro house and electro, the same trio as Kavinsky. He goes darker and heavier; add darksynth and horror synth to his tag list. Start with Trilogy, and see If you like Carpenter Brut: artists to try next for his own circle.
Electro-house tags lead further. Vector Seven (Germany, 18 releases, 2017–2026) shares french house, electro house and electro; try Hardwired. F.O.O.L (Sweden, 11 releases, 2020–2025) has You Call Me Reckless on Monstercat, a label better known for dance music than synthwave, which tells you which way this one leans. Retrology has only 3 releases, 2017–2019, but the highest tag overlap in the set, thanks to an electro-house tag; Hyperspace is the one example.
Through the Drive door
College is David Grellier, whose debut album Secret Diary appeared in 2008, according to Vehlinggo's anniversary piece.[3] His "A Real Hero" is the softer sung counterpart to "Nightcall": A Real Hero.
Le Matos (Canada, 16 releases, 2011–2025) scored the film Turbo Kid. Electronic Sound's review of the soundtrack names John Carpenter, Vangelis and Tangerine Dream as touchstones.[4] The archive lists their 2025 game soundtrack Turbo Kid Original Game Soundtrack on Mutant.
The italo and synth-pop corner
Kavinsky's italo disco and synth-pop tags point to a different group. Beatbox Machinery (Greece, 36 releases, 2011–2024) and Espen Kraft (Norway, 43 releases, 2016–2022) both carry italo disco and synth-pop. Try Physical Touch, on Werkstatt Recordings, and DREAMS. Futurecop! (UK, 18 releases, 2008–2025) adds electro and synth-pop tags; his 2025 album Wind, Town & Flowers is on NewRetroWave.
Bigger piles to dig through
- Makeup and Vanity Set (US, 133 releases, 2003–2026) is the largest catalogue in this set, with electro-house and electro tags; the newest is Ravefinder.
- Nexus-6 (Argentina, 12 releases, 2009–2019) is tagged electro: Love and Witchcraft, on Secsy Music.
- Orax (Italy, 16 releases, 2011–2025) pairs electro with synth-pop: Blame on NewRetroWave.
These picks come from tag overlap only, which for a catalogue as unusual as this one gives a better map than labels would. For the genre context, see Outrun music: the racing-game sound of synthwave and How synthwave went mainstream: Drive, Stranger Things and Blinding Lights, against the release numbers, and the French synthwave: from French touch to darksynth page for the scene he came from. The Night Drive station (92.0 FM) is the radio match, and the Pop station (90.7 FM) has the songs with hooks.
Records to start with
- Carpenter Brut · 2015 · No Quarter Prod · COMPThe French-electro neighbour, in his darker mode.
- Vector Seven · 2026 · V7 Records · SINGLEA newer release with electro-house tags, from 2026.
- A game soundtrack by a film-score duo.
- Beatbox Machinery · 2024 · Werkstatt Recordings · LPAn italo disco-tagged album on Werkstatt Recordings.
Sources
- Drive (2011 film) (used as a map to its references) · Wikipedia
- Kavinsky (used as a map to its references) · Wikipedia
- Valerie Stories: 10 Years of College's Essential LP 'Secret Diary' · Vehlinggo, 26 Nov 2018
- Le Matos: Chronicles Of The Wasteland / Turbo Kid Original Motion Picture Soundtrack · Electronic Sound, 31 Dec 2015
- Kavinsky, French producer behind the Drive hit Nightcall, found dead at 50 · France 24, 29 Jul 2026