My Current Obsession: Tokyo Nights by L'Avenue

There are times when I think the synthwave genre has been well and truly played out. At this point I don’t make it a habit to seek out new material. There’s always a danger with “pastiche” when it can go beyond a loving retro revival and start to fold in on itself, becoming ever more constrictive and losing its sense of playfulness and originality.

And then there are times L’Avenue comes out with a new album, and I am so here for it. This time, we’re treated with Tokyo Nights…yes I know, the synthwave/cyberpunk fixation with Japan is also heavily overplayed, but damnit, this is good, good stuff.

Productions like this revolve so much around mood and atmosphere and the emotional place it can instantly take you to, and Tokyo Nights delivers atmosphere in spades. It should be noted L’Avenue is responsible for my 2022 Electronica Album of the Year, Riviera—however, I will say that this comes down to certain standout tracks on the album. This time around, my feeling is that Tokyo Nights is more consistently excellent across all its tracks even though I’m not sure I can say it quite reaches the heights of Riviera.

Jesse Reuben Wilson is the musician behind the project, and I am pleased to hear his growth as a composer and performer on this album. There’s more subtlety in the practical keyboard work—less robotic, more organic—and more variety in the arrangement styles. Tokyo Nights pushes at the edges of the synthwave genre, pulling bits in as needed from adjacent genres such as progressive house and dubstep. This gives it a fresh and invigorating feel, despite the heavy reliance on various retro 80s tropes. Wilson certainly is no stranger to other electronica genres. His work under the moniker Positive Flow is proof of that. But I think Tokyo Nights is an exciting glimpse of what you can do when you don’t feel constrained to a strict adherence to the synthwave sonic palette.

I hope you give it a listen, particularly the trilogy of tracks 3-5 (Arcade Heaven, Never Die, & Shogun). Take a late evening drive with the stereo on, or perhaps lie down and put on your best studio headphones. I expect you’ll be pleasantly rewarded.

/// May 30, 2025 ///