Australian artists in the Frekvenci archive release a lot of vaporwave (183 of 391 listed releases), an unusually large strand of italo-pop (82 in the pop-leaning family) and a smaller 101 in plain synthwave. Two names explain the shape: the Melbourne synthpop act Parralox, and Power Glove, the duo whose score for a video game reached a worldwide audience. A surprise sits in the yearly chart. The two busiest years in the data are the most recent ones.
Power Glove and a game about a cyborg dragon
Power Glove's route to fame ran through a game. The duo made the 25 original tracks for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, which Game Informer reported in April 2013 was streaming ahead of release.[1] In a Gamereactor interview the two brothers said Ubisoft emailed them wanting a song, that they had started four or five years earlier as a casual project releasing tracks on MySpace, and that the publisher asked for John Carpenter and Terminator homages.[2] They also cite Vangelis, prog rock and the kung fu films of their childhood, and spent roughly a year on the score.[2] In April 2014 Invada Records, Geoff Barrow's label, issued the music as a neon pink double LP limited to 1,000 copies for Record Store Day.[4]
The archive lists Power Glove with 7 releases, from a 2008 EP to a 2021 listing, including the 2016 album Trials of Blood Dragon. For records that sound like them, see If you like Power Glove: artists to try next, and for the wider link between games and the genre, Synthwave and video games: from Out Run to Hotline Miami.
Parralox and the Subterrane catalogue
Parralox is the other pillar. Wikipedia says the Melbourne synthpop act was formed in 2008 by John von Ahlen, lists a run of albums from Electricity in 2008 to Travelogue in 2021, and notes digital distribution through the independent label Subterrane, as well as a signing in 2009 to the German electro label Conzoom Records.[3] The archive lists 61 releases for the act, most tagged italo disco, and 59 of the 61 listings on Subterrane Records are by Australian artists, almost all Parralox. That is why Australia's italo disco tag count (65 releases) is so high. The act is a steady presence: between 2 and 8 listings in each year from 2017 to 2025, with 8 in 2021, 2024 and 2025. Italo disco and synthwave: the 1980s sound that keeps coming back puts the style in context.
A third strand is Jordan F, an Australian act with 12 listed releases, among them a 2011 EP on Rosso Corsa Records, which has 4 Australian listings in all.
Three acts behind the new peak
Australia makes up about 2.7% of releases with a country attached; keep in mind that the country is missing for about two in five releases, so these counts are a floor. They come from 74 labels, and 91 of the 391 are self-released.
SHOW THE NUMBERS
| Year | Releases |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 2 |
| 2011 | 1 |
| 2012 | 4 |
| 2013 | 9 |
| 2014 | 17 |
| 2015 | 20 |
| 2016 | 39 |
| 2017 | 38 |
| 2018 | 36 |
| 2019 | 29 |
| 2020 | 40 |
| 2021 | 35 |
| 2022 | 17 |
| 2023 | 14 |
| 2024 | 39 |
| 2025 | 45 |
- The first climb is 2013 to 2016: 9, 17, 20, then 39.
- A plateau of 29 to 40 a year from 2016 to 2021.
- A trough in 2022 and 2023: 17 and 14.
- The peak is 2025, with 45, after 39 in 2024. The two highest years are the most recent, which is rare in this series. Three acts supply most of it. Parralox has 8 listings in each year, I Wish I Could Stay Here Forever has 16 in 2024 and 13 in 2025, all self-released, and Blank Entourage has 7 in 2024 and 17 in 2025. In 2025 these three add up to 38 of the 45.
- 2026 shows 4 and is a part year.
So the recent peak is a story about prolific artists, not a broad revival. Without them, 2024 and 2025 would look like the plateau years. Why a few releasers can bend a country's curve is explained in Do it yourself: how much synthwave is self-released?.
Cities: Melbourne has 23 artists on file, Sydney 9, Brisbane 6, Perth and Adelaide 4 each. Another 37 give only "Australia".
What Australian artists release
SHOW THE NUMBERS
| Family | Releases |
|---|---|
| Vaporwave | 10,473 |
| Synthwave | 8,105 |
| Popwave | 2,678 |
| Darksynth | 1,803 |
| Dreamwave | 833 |
| Cyberpunk | 6 |
The family split is 183 vaporwave, 101 synthwave, 82 popwave, 21 darksynth and 4 dreamwave. By tag, 96 releases carry synthwave, 65 italo disco, 62 vaporwave, 41 future funk and 29 barber beats. Darksynth is tiny compared with the French or Russian pages in this series, which fits the sunny image: 21 releases against 118 in French synthwave: from French touch to darksynth. For the vaporwave side, What is vaporwave? A guide to the internet's slowed-down mall music is the starting point.
By listed releases, the leaders are Parralox (61), I Wish I Could Stay Here Forever (29), Blank Entourage (26), TUPPERWAVE (21), b l u e s c r e e n (18), Jordan F (12) and R.E.A.L (9), then Kick Puncher, BARCHboi, Striborg and Propulsion Drive (8 each) and Power Glove (7).
Labels
After Subterrane Records come Sunset Grid (9 of 84), NewRetroWave (5 of 203), Adhesive Sounds (5 of 34), B O G U S // COLLECTIVE (5), Gulf Audio Company (5), Kanga Corp (5 of 12) and Rosso Corsa Records (4 of 38). Counts are by artist country.
Records to start with
Ten records, from 2008 to 2025, picked to run across the archive's Australian years and styles, one per act.
- Power Glove · 2016 · Ubisoft Music · LPThe 2016 album from the game that made the duo's name.
- Parralox · 2009 · Subterrane Records · COMPA 2009 compilation on Subterrane Records, in the italo disco tag.
- Parralox · 2019 · Subterrane Records · LPThe 2019 album Wikipedia names among the act's studio albums.
- Striborg · 2020 · Humanhood Recordings · LPA 2020 dark wave album on Humanhood Recordings.
For the sunnier end of the archive, tune the Night Drive station (92.0 FM) or browse Italo Disco.
Sources
- The Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon Soundtrack Fits Like A Glove · Game Informer, 24 Apr 2013
- The Music of Blood Dragon (interview with Power Glove) · Gamereactor, 1 May 2013
- Parralox (used as a map to its references) · Wikipedia
- Invada to release Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon soundtrack for Record Store Day · FACT Magazine, 13 Mar 2014