I have a confession to make: as someone that collects synthwave related physical media, there are times when I purchase said media without actually listening to the music in question first, and this was one such case. I should note that I do eventually listen to the music but, as I said before, I often buy first and listen later due to the limited edition nature of most synthwave related physical media; I get while the getting is still in supply.
As a fan of all synthwave music, from the lighter chillwave fare to the more intense darkwave, there has not really been a standout instance yet in my mind of regretting a purchase in such a carefree way. In fact, with “Digital Dark Age,” it ended up being one of the most surprising and would end up touching me on more levels than I ever expected from a random purchase.
I say this because, underneath its surface, there are three layers to this album which speak to me on a personal level that I would like to peel away one-by-one:
Watermelon Banzai 