Nostalgia and the Digital Dawn of Retrowave

Retrowave is where the nostalgia of the 1980s collides with our digital era, reviving the aesthetics, the music, and the creative spirit of a remarkable decade.

In a world overflowing with gadgets and technology, we witness a cultural renaissance that breathes life into old dreams — a realm where new generations rebuild a universe of colour, Synthwave, and Cyberpunk.

Marcel CHAOS

Nostalgia …

This is the word from the editor of Area Orbital.

I was a kid shaped by my older brother’s taste in music — from pop to heavy metal — and I loved every bit of it. I even launched a rock magazine, only to see my dream fade as technology advanced. Suddenly, people no longer read printed magazines, collected CDs and tapes, or tuned into MTV for music videos.
The 80s and even 90s music I cherished was swept aside, replaced by something different … and I watched my cultural world collapse beneath the weight of gadgets, valued more than the art itself.

So I turned back: to the 70s I had never lived, and to the 80s, of which I remembered little, being a child then. I rebuilt my musical taste — though still too attached to the past.

But something shifted … and discovering Retrowave brought me back!

Synthwave: A 1980s Utopia?

As a fan of vintage music, I was genuinely thrilled to see young people recreating the 1980s aesthetic, despite never having lived through it, building an entirely new world.

More astonishing still was their reverence: bringing back yesterday’s cars through today’s technology — just look at the dazzling wallpapers on Pinterest. They honour the cyberpunk look, adore iconic 80s films, and capture the sound of vinyl in digital synthesisers, sharing it all online.

Was I living in a parallel universe that never happened? In a Matrix of sorts? How can there be two versions of the 1980s — one past, one future?

Blessed generation, to whom I am grateful! They helped me rediscover myself. Because of them, I can bring back my magazine. What joy!

Area Orbital: a Portal between Past and Future

Area Orbital is the perfect name for covering both the old world and the new — a way of reaching from the past to reshape the future.

Ironically, the same technology that once destroyed my dream now allows the phoenix to rise again: the glow of Retrowave, with all the sound and culture of the 1980s, alive in 2024.

If in the 90s I was making fanzines in Brazil, now I can truly rebuild my magazine — powered by rock, goth, synthpop, electronic, and more. Together, we are reconstructing 80s culture with a cyberpunk aesthetic, bridging the old with the new.

My hope is to form a community of people who, like me, are forever Back to the Future! Shall we?

Our Mission

• To bring the nostalgia of the 1980s back to the heart of our lives.

• To rekindle the spirit of creativity and emotion.

Our Vision

To help shape a new world — ethically responsible, sustainable, and human — through retroculture.

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The images in this article were generated with artificial intelligence.

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Marcel CHAOS is a cultural journalist and producer. He once ran the underground rock magazine Sacred Sound and has since dedicated his work to live music and the revival of retro aesthetics in the digital age.