Synthwave artist Atomic Ghost just released a brand new LP called Teenage Romance and folks, it is god damn delightful: an instrumental concept album that uses an orgy of synth sounds to recreate the archetypal epic experience of every teen movie ever. Or, as the artist themself explains:
Teenage Romance tells the story of a kid who's new in town, see's someone they love at first sight, gets into trouble, struggles with a bully, falls in love, faces down challenges, and wins in the end. It's the soundtrack to a film you've never seen, but also all of them.
Atomic Ghost is either A mild-mannered musician and a child of the 80s who stumbled into an archetypal nuclear reactor incident and now exists purely as a radioactive spirit, haunting synthesizers across the land, or a flesh-and-blood human who also served as a groomsman in my wedding. I remember the first time I listened to an early mix of the album, stepping outside for my daily "commute" around the block and back to my home office. Teenage Romance was the perfect soundtrack to get me focused and in the zone — a meditative experience that let my thoughts wander and then re-collect themself, even as it inspired me to feel like the archetypal protagonist in Every Epic Teen Movie. (In fact, it took me a little longer than anticipated to give mixing feedback to the Atomic Ghost, because I would find myself losing time whenever I listened to the album, utterly entranced by the bleep-bloops of a strangely familiar journey.)
You can check it Teenage Romance on Bandcamp below, or at Spotify, etc. It is genuinely great.
