@Gabriela Cichoszewska

Moja jesienna playlista 2025r

Discover new music from artists we think you'll like. Refreshed every Friday.

Electronic pioneers who became arena-filling pop titans, Depeche Mode aren’t just icons of New Wave; their early years represent the seismic shift that triggered a tsunami of synthesiser-centred acts. When the UK group got their start in 1980, punk had wiped the slate clean; aspiring young musicians were trading guitars for electronics, and everything felt possible. Depeche Mode proved as much, masterminding an austere yet bewitchingly melodic sound built on cutting-edge synths and clean-lined drum programming. Their sound grew darker after their comparatively chipper 1981 debut, <i>Speak & Spell</i>, once founding member Vince Clarke left to form Yazoo, then Erasure; he was replaced by Alan Wilder, who remained in the band until 1995, leaving original members Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and Andy Fletcher as the group’s long-standing line-up.<br> Under Gore’s songwriting, key themes emerged: primarily the pleasures of sin and the relief of redemption, with occasional forays into the kinds of dorm-room philosophising (“Blasphemous Rumours”) that have made Depeche Mode perennial faves for generations of brooding teenagers. The title of 1987’s <i>Music for the Masses</i> came to look like a premonition: In 1988, they corralled 75,000 fans for a Los Angeles concert—numbers that, just a few years earlier, would have been unheard of for a synth-pop group. While their sound remained strictly electronic, Gahan developed the leering voice and louche stage presence of a swaggering rock star (exhibit A: 1989’s bluesy “Personal Jesus”, which Johnny Cash himself would eventually cover). 1990’s <i>Violator</i> is widely hailed as their masterpiece: lush, mysterious and multidimensional, pairing some of Depeche Mode’s most compelling songwriting with their most advanced electronic sound design. That record established the formula they’ve continued to tweak album after album. Having inspired artists across techno, alternative rock, emo and pop, Depeche Mode were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020—the ultimate confirmation of the synthesiser’s enduring influence.

Like their home base of Las Vegas, Imagine Dragons' alt-rock is big, bright and a whole lot of fun. Their 2012 debut, Night Visions, quickly amassed a following—even among hip-hop and EDM fans—with fist-pumping stadium anthems "Radioactive" and "Demons", which wobble under deep bass and flash with New Wave synths. Later, they transformed those thundering theatrics into the stomping folk rock sing-along "I Bet My Life" and the Muse-like battle cry "Warriors". But that doesn't mean they don't appreciate subtlety, turning out some of their most powerful moments in soft-spoken love ballads like "Not Today".

Kygo's ascent is the stuff of legend: in no time, the Norwegian producer went from making bootleg remixes of Ed Sheeran and Marvin Gaye to getting tapped to replace Avicii on TomorrowWorld's main stage. In the process, he softened EDM's profile, trading builds and drops for floating on air. Given his balmy atmospheres and easy grooves, he's often associated with tropical house, but Kygo's music can't be pinned down to any one style. Equally suited for beach bonfires, after-parties and road trips, it's the soundtrack for life's most delicious stretches of downtime.

Flirting with pop, rock, folk, funk, R&B, even classical music, this Colorado band offers one notable constant: an undeniably killer hook. Oh, and drama—plenty of it. It's all built on Ryan Tedder's soulful croons, which fluctuate with every passing mood, as he quivers through jilted pain on the cello-touched piano ballad "Apologize", unleashes a slick falsetto over the sweeping synth-pop of "Kids", and rhythmically rivals the rousing, hand-clapping folk of "Counting Stars". But OneRepublic's greatest triumph? That just might be bringing Bach to stadiums worldwide with pop anthem "Secrets".