Synth-pop

In Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra introduced the TR-808 rhythm machine to popular music, and the band would be a major influence on early British synth-pop acts.

[16] In the mid to late 1980s, duos such as Erasure and Pet Shop Boys adopted a style that was highly successful on the US dance charts, but by the end of the decade, the synth-pop of bands such as A-ha and Alphaville was giving way to house music and techno.

The genre has received criticism for alleged lack of emotion and musicianship; prominent artists have spoken out against detractors who believed that synthesizers themselves composed and played the songs.

[2] According to music writer Simon Reynolds, the hallmark of 1980s synth-pop was its "emotional, at times operatic singers" such as Marc Almond, Alison Moyet and Annie Lennox.

The portable Minimoog, which allowed much easier use, particularly in live performance[25] was widely adopted by progressive rock musicians such as Richard Wright of Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman of Yes.

[30] In 1975, Kraftwerk played their first British show and inspired concert attendees Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys – who would later found Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) – to 'throw away their guitars' and become a synth act.

[28] In 1977, Giorgio Moroder released the electronic Eurodisco song "I Feel Love" that he had produced for Donna Summer, and its programmed beats would be a major influence on the later synth-pop sound.

[32] That same month, the Beach Boys released their album Love You, performed almost entirely by bandleader Brian Wilson with Moog and ARP synthesizers,[34] and with arrangements somewhat inspired by Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach (1968).

Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) with their self-titled album (1978)[44] and Solid State Survivor (1979), developed a "fun-loving and breezy" sound,[45] with a strong emphasis on melody.

[47] 1978 also saw the release of UK band the Human League's debut single "Being Boiled" and The Normal's "Warm Leatherette", which both are regarded as seminal works in early synth-pop.

According to authors Stuart Borthwick and Ron Moy, "After the monochrome blacks and greys of punk/new wave, synthpop was promoted by a youth media interested in people who wanted to be pop stars, such as Boy George and Adam Ant".

[83] Synth-pop reached its commercial peak in the UK in the winter of 1981–2, with bands such as OMD, Japan, Ultravox, Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Yazoo and even Kraftwerk, enjoying top ten hits.

The proliferation of acts led to an anti-synth backlash, with groups including Spandau Ballet, Human League, Soft Cell and ABC incorporating more conventional influences and instruments into their sounds.

[89] In the US (unlike the UK), where synth-pop is sometimes considered a "subgenre" of "new wave" and was described as "technopop" or "electropop" by the press at the time,[90] the genre became popular due to the cable music channel MTV, which reached the media capitals of New York City and Los Angeles in 1982.

[50][93] In his early 1980s columns for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau frequently referred to British synth-pop as "Anglodisco", suggesting a parallel to the contemporary genres of Eurodisco and Italo disco, both highly popular outside the US.

[111] In 1984, Frankie Goes to Hollywood released their debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome (produced by Trevor Horn of the Buggles), with their first three singles, "Relax", "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love", topping the UK chart.

[115] Synth-pop continued into the late 1980s, with a format that moved closer to dance music, including the work of acts such as British duos Pet Shop Boys,[116] Erasure[117] and the Communards.

[121] Electronic music was also explored from the early 1990s by indietronica bands like Stereolab, EMF, the Utah Saints, and Disco Inferno, who mixed a variety of indie and synthesizer sounds.

[131] Indietronica began to take off in the new millennium as the new digital technology developed, with acts such as Broadcast from the UK, Justice from France, Lali Puna from Germany, and Ratatat and the Postal Service from the US, mixing a variety of indie sounds with electronic music, largely produced on small independent labels.

It was pioneered by I-F with their track "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" (1998),[133] and pursued by artists including Felix da Housecat,[134] Peaches, Chicks on Speed,[135] and Fischerspooner.

[136] It gained international attention at the beginning of the new millennium and spread to scenes in London and Berlin, but rapidly faded as a recognizable genre as acts began to experiment with a variety of forms of music.

Between 2003 and 2004, it began to move into the mainstream with Ladytron, the Postal Service, Cut Copy, the Bravery and the Killers all producing records that incorporated vintage synthesizer sounds and styles that contrasted with the dominant genres of post-grunge and nu metal.

[138] The Killers, the Bravery and the Stills all left their synth-pop sound behind after their debut albums and began to explore classic 1970s rock,[139] but the style was picked up by a large number of performers, particularly female solo artists.

Following the breakthrough success of Lady Gaga with her single "Just Dance" (2008), the British and other media proclaimed a new era of female synth-pop stars, citing artists such as Little Boots, La Roux, and Ladyhawke.

[140][141] Male acts that emerged in the same period include Calvin Harris,[142] Empire of the Sun,[143] Frankmusik,[144] Hurts,[145] Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, Kaskade,[146] LMFAO,[147] and Owl City, whose single "Fireflies" (2009) topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

[156][160] Mainstream female recording artists who have dabbled in the genre in the 2010s include Madonna,[161][162][163] Taylor Swift,[164][165][166] Katy Perry,[167][168][169] Jessie J,[170] Christina Aguilera,[171][172] and Beyoncé.

[182] This wave of revival not only popularized established acts but also enabled new artists like Dua Lipa, whose retro-influenced album Future Nostalgia won multiple awards and was hailed for its energetic embrace of vintage pop sounds.

[183] Meanwhile, indie artists such as M83 continued to explore the boundaries of the genre, blending it with shoegaze and ambient music to create a complex, layered sound in their album Digital Shades Vol.

[191] OMD frontman Andy McCluskey recalled a great many people "who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you", and asserted: "Believe me, if there was a button on a synth or a drum machine that said 'hit single', I would have pressed it as often as anybody else would have – but there isn't.

[194] American musicians such as Juan Atkins, using names including Model 500, Infinity and as part of Cybotron, developed a style of electronic dance music influenced by synth-pop and funk that led to the emergence of Detroit techno in the mid-1980s.