Funkier than most of the latest NewRetroWave releases or synthwave albums in general, Raydar's Neon Graffiti sounds somewhat less dark than last year's Evil Squad, yet it's a profound and well executed return to the French house roots for the band and at the same time the closest a synthwave album has ever been to the seventies.
If by reading the terms 'funk' and 'French house' the first things that came to your mind were Funkadelic and Daft Punk, you'd be in the right direction as to what the new Raydar album sounds like. Provided that you add a touch of some excellent outrun, that sounds like Kavinsky would unduly enjoy, particularly on the album's calmer moments, and you get an even clearer image. Cover all that in the captivating artwork by Parisian artist Victor Moatti and you get an enticing total that's impossible to ignore.
Synthwave as a genre thus far has proven itself not to be like sparkles that last as little as they do just so to burn out and fade away. So far there have been individual synthwave releases that stand out from the pack as they have much more to offer than the usual and give the genre a boost forward. Neon Graffiti is one of them.
The physical CD version of the album will come in a limited run of just 100 and it will ship around August 30th. That and the digital version which is already out can be found on NRW's Bandcamp.
ZR