GR Style



Greece-based Kristine is one of the most famous retrowave/synthwave singers and producers out there — and certainly the most famous woman in that group — but with her new self-titled debut album, there’s a chance she could cross over into the mainstream. Her solo songs such as “The Deepest Blue” and “Modern Love” are nouveau classics of 80s retrosynth, and her vocal spots on songs by the likes of FM Attack, Futurecop!, and Kung Fury’s Mitch Murder have ensured her genre legacy is etched into stone. She can write great hooks and sing great melodies with earnest emotion. On her new album, which includes “Blue,” “Love,” and some other previously released songs along with some new ones, Kristine kicks that 80s pop template into overdrive. These are the songs your synth-skeptic friends will be playing repeatedly for months, if anything because of their genetic similarities to the best of 80s-era Heart and Pat Benatar. It’s pure and honest pop hooks bathed in 80s nostalgia. The Modern Love EP, from which two cuts on the album are derived, came out four years ago. Along the way, her vocals have graced Futurecop!’s classic “Superheroes,” Murder’s “Summer of Heat,” Dance with the Dead’s “The Power,” two songs on FM Attack’s brilliant Deja Vu, and other compositions. Then last year came “The Deepest Blue,” one of her most popular songs and another from the past that shows up on her debut album. She wrote, recorded, and produced the album primarily in her home studio in Athens, but synthwave fans will notice some familiar styles from her global cadre of collaborators. American SelloRekT/LA Dreams, Israeli and Kung Fury star Highway Superstar, Britain-based Sunglasses Kid and Belgian Diana Gitallog all played synthesizer parts from their homes all over the world. A Danish band called The Surf School Dropouts contributed harmonies to a song as well. Local Greeks also lent the talented producer a hand. John Bitzios and Alexandros Solomozis played guitar solos and Ilias Papadopoulos played a saxophone solo, according to Kristine. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.