The Neon Voice of the Future: How Essenger Is Rewriting the Rules of Synthwave
If you’ve ever found yourself standing in front of a rainy window, neon signs flickering in the distance, headphones on, and feeling like the protagonist of a sci-fi anime that doesn’t exist—congratulations, you’ve already been emotionally hijacked by the world of Essenger.
And if you haven’t yet? Well, buckle up, choomba.
Let’s take a ride through the circuitry and soul of the Kansas City artist who’s managed to combine EDM, synthwave, alt-rock, and existential feels into something that sounds like the future remembering the past.
Enter the Cyberpunk Crooner
Behind the moniker Essenger is Jeff Simpson, a vocalist, producer, and self-proclaimed late-night studio goblin who started dropping music into the digital ether back in 2012. While most of us were still trying to figure out how to EQ our SoundCloud tracks properly, Simpson was already composing genre-bending sonic narratives that hit you in both the chest and the tear ducts.
From the beginning, Essenger carved out a unique lane:
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Synths that sound like they were lifted from a forgotten John Carpenter film score
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Vocals dripping with emotion but still dancefloor-friendly
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Drops that feel like a nostalgic punch in the face
And through it all? That unmistakable cinematic edge—his music doesn’t just sound like a movie, it feels like one. Think Blade Runner, but if Deckard had a DJ residency in Neo-Tokyo.
"After Dark": The Album That Lit Up the Night
2020 was chaos for most people. But for Essenger, it was the year of After Dark—his debut full-length LP that fully introduced his signature style to the world: cinematic synthwave fused with high-octane EDM and alt-rock. It’s got glitchy beats, soaring hooks, and vocals that sound like they were recorded inside a neon-lit dystopia.
Tracks like:
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"Empire of Steel" – an absolute banger that sounds like a mech suit sprinting through a burning skyline.
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"Lost Boys" – the unofficial anthem for anyone who feels like an analog soul in a digital age.
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"Labyrinth" – a moody journey through heartbreak and escape, laced with lush textures.
There’s a deluxe vinyl release in 2024, too. Which, honestly, makes sense. If any album deserves to be played on a glowing turntable while sipping synth-colored cocktails, it’s this one.
Cyberpunk Is Dead, Long Live Cyberpunk
What separates Essenger from the sea of neon-glazed artists flooding the scene is his ability to stay cinematic without falling into cliché. Sure, the cyberpunk aesthetic is everywhere now—just slap a grid on a purple background and boom, you're retro. But Essenger lives it. It’s in his visuals, his lyrics, and especially his collaborations.
And speaking of collaborations...
All-Star Synthwave Synergy
Essenger’s music isn’t made in a vacuum—he’s been busy mixing digital DNA with some of the most iconic names in the scene:
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The Midnight – their collab “Silence” in 2024 is pure atmospheric magic. It’s like cruising through a neon wasteland at 3 AM with nothing but heartbreak and horsepower.
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Scandroid – retro-futurist royalty meets cyber-emotion.
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PYLOT, Au5, Young Medicine – whether he's sharing vocals or trading remix duties, Essenger brings out a cinematic depth in every collab.
He even remixed legends like Celldweller and The Anix, proving he’s not just hanging with the best—he is one of the best.
The Live Show: Where Nostalgia Gets Loud
While Essenger's music can soundtrack your moody cyber-daydreams, the man is also tearing up real stages in real life. Touring across the U.S. in 2024 and 2025, with stops at Dark Force Fest and shows alongside Lexi Norton, Essenger’s live sets are where cinematic sound meets full-blown immersion. Fog, lasers, and high-voltage vocals—basically, it's like stepping into a synth-drenched future you didn’t know you missed.
So yeah, maybe it's time to buy that ticket. And maybe—just maybe—it’s time to dress the part too.
Style for the Synth Soul
Let’s be honest: if you’re vibing to Essenger, you’re not exactly dressing in normcore. You need a fit that matches the vibe—something that says I’m emotionally complex but also ready for a street race in 2089.
That’s where Newretro.Net slides in, synths blazing.
Picture this:
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Retro VHS sneakers that feel like you're stepping through a time portal
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Leather jackets sharp enough to cut through a dystopian skyline
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Sunglasses that practically demand a synthwave playlist
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And watches that look like they could hack into a corporate mainframe
It's the unofficial uniform for anyone cruising through an Essenger track. Think of it as cosplay for the emotionally sophisticated.
From the Shadows to the Spotlight
Essenger’s path hasn’t been one of overnight TikTok fame or viral dance challenges. Instead, it’s been a slow, deliberate crafting of a world—one track at a time, one collaboration at a time. And now, heading into 2025, he’s not just riding the synthwave; he’s reshaping it.
His next LP is on the horizon, and based on what we've heard so far—like "Sanctum Eternal," the cinematic juggernaut of 2023, or his haunting Move Along cover—you can expect even more emotional chaos and sonic beauty in equal measure.
But we’re just getting warmed up.
By now, if you're not already deep-diving through Essenger’s discography on your second coffee of the day, don’t worry—we’re not done yet. Because the world Essenger is building isn’t just about the sound. It’s about storytelling, style, community, and catharsis. And that world is expanding faster than a high-speed hoverbike down a rain-soaked freeway.
Visuals That Bleed Nostalgia and Code
Essenger doesn’t just release songs—he drops cinematic experiences. His music videos and visualizers are often drenched in neon-soaked dystopias, retro-futuristic cityscapes, and glitchy aesthetics that look like they were recovered from an alternate timeline where VHS never died.
We’re talking:
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Neon skylines
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Moiré patterns dancing across cybernetic limbs
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Retro HUD overlays and haunting flashes of analog fuzz
It’s like he’s plugged directly into your nostalgia center and downloaded everything that made ‘80s sci-fi magical—then fed it back through a 2025 lens.
He’s tapped into a form of emotional world-building, where even if the lyrics are personal or abstract, the visuals always invite you into something bigger. You don’t just listen to Essenger—you enter Essenger.
The Fans: Digital Nomads, Synth Knights, and Retro Warriors
Essenger’s fans aren’t your average casual listeners. These are people who know the lore behind synthwave. They cry to pixelated sunsets and feel personally attacked when Spotify says, “Are you sure you want to listen to Lost Boys again?”
They build playlists with names like “Cyber Dreams for a Broken Heart” and wear denim with holes so precisely placed it might as well be a new genre of punctuation.
And speaking of style...
Dress Like the Future You Wish You Lived In
If you’ve ever wished your clothes matched the soundtrack playing in your head while watching Ghost in the Shell or Akira for the 11th time, the solution is dangerously simple: go full retro-futurist. The kind of aesthetic that screams I time-travel recreationally.
Newretro.Net has somehow cracked the code on that. With a line-up that looks like it was designed by a synthwave AI that just watched Miami Vice and The Matrix back-to-back:
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Denim jackets that look like they’ve seen some back-alley dealings in a neon-lit alley
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Leather gear that feels like you’re one USB drive away from being a cyberpunk protagonist
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Sunglasses that make every sunset feel like a movie poster
It’s not just merch—it’s mood armor for people who live in the margins between the analog past and a digitized future.
Essenger: Not Just a Sound, But a Feeling
Let’s get real for a second. The reason Essenger hits differently isn’t just the polish or production value. It’s the feeling—the ache, the euphoria, the overwhelming aliveness in his music.
He doesn’t just write songs about heartbreak. He writes about heartbreak after the fall of civilization.
He doesn’t just remix a song to make it club-friendly. He reimagines it like it was made by a cyborg who just remembered how to feel.
And maybe that’s why so many people connect with his music. Because at the heart of all the tech, the synths, the layered production—there’s raw humanity. There’s vulnerability. There’s someone staring into the void and trying to find beauty in the static.
What’s Next for Essenger?
With a new album set for 2025, the buzz is building like a modulating bassline. And if the recent singles are any indication, this next era is going to take all the emotional depth of After Dark and strap a rocket to it.
Let’s look at some highlights from his recent output:
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“Sanctum Eternal” – a haunting epic that feels like a requiem for a dying star. It’s basically Tron meets Interstellar.
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“Mothman” – a mythological banger (yes, that’s a thing now) that’s somehow eerie and danceable. Imagine vibing at a goth rave deep in West Virginia.
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“Aniquilación” – even the title goes hard. A cyberpunk war anthem if we’ve ever heard one.
And then there’s his cover of “Move Along”—a track so emotionally potent it almost feels illegal to call it a “cover.” He doesn’t just re-do the All-American Rejects classic; he reinterprets it through a lens of post-apocalyptic perseverance. It’s the song you’d play while watching your city burn, but you’ve still got a chance to save one person—and that person is you.
Essenger and the Bigger Picture
It’s hard not to view Essenger as part of a larger cultural moment. The return of retro-futurism. The longing for stories that combine old-school emotion with futuristic aesthetics. The desire to feel something real in a world increasingly built on algorithms.
He’s part of a movement—but also a leader in it. A voice that bridges genres, crosses eras, and makes the kind of music that sticks with you long after the beat drops.
He’s not the past.
He’s not just the future.
He’s the memory of the future—and it’s playing on loop.
So whether you’re already knee-deep in the world of cinematic synthwave or just discovering your new favorite artist, one thing’s for sure: Essenger is only getting started. And if you want to fully commit to this retro-future life, you might want to upgrade more than just your playlist.
After all, if the world’s gonna end in neon, you might as well look cool doing it.
And yeah, we know a place for that.
Newretro.Net. Because the future isn’t just something you listen to—it’s something you wear.
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