Darkwave
Darkwave is a gloomy, synth-heavy offshoot of new wave and post-punk, marked by minor-key melodies, cold electronics and brooding vocals.
It emerged in Europe in the late 1970s and early 1980s, alongside gothic rock. Typical tracks combine drum machines, deep bass, icy synthesizers and reverb-laden guitars with low or mournful singing and introspective lyrics. It is more electronic than gothic rock and slower and sadder than synth-pop. The style has seen a revival since the 2000s.
Artists it is known for: Clan of Xymox, Dead Can Dance, Lebanon Hanover.
- Family
- Alternative & Indie
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- Europe, late 1970s to early 1980s
- Also called
- dark wave
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 8%
About 6,900 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have darkwave among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Darkwave artists
The Cure
Depeche Mode
She Wants Revenge
Pastel Ghost
Joy Division
And One
Molchat Doma
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Mareux
Bauhaus
The darkwave artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.