NEWS

12.10.2026

Musicology Australia publishes Angus Lee’s review of Making Synthwave

Angus Lee's review of Jess Blaise Ward's monograph Making Synthwave: How an Online Music Community Invented a Genre (2025) has been published by Musicology Australia.

The review considers Ward's study of synthwave not merely as a musical genre, but as a digitally mediated creative community whose aesthetic values, technological foundations, and cultural practices emerged through sustained interactions between musicians, listeners, online platforms, and virtual communities. Particular attention is given to the book's contributions to contemporary discussions surrounding genre formation, internet-native musical cultures, digital mediation, and online artistic practice.

Originally developed from Ward's doctoral research, Making Synthwave combines ethnographic research, musical analysis, historical documentation, and practitioner perspectives to account for synthwave's emergence from an online subculture into a globally recognised musical phenomenon.

The review marks Angus Lee's first academic publication.