Synthwave duo Indigo Waves made quite the splash with their 2021 self-titled debut. With multiple songs on the album accumulating millions of streams, their follow up has been highly anticipated for quite some time now. Doubling-down on every element from their first release, 2025’s Mirror takes their sound to new heights.

Opening with “Vision” shows how the group has concentrated their strengths for their sophomore release. Everything feels a bit more vivid this time around. “Vision” is particular a perfectly written song, with a potently paired production that had me coming back for more. While it wasn’t a single, it should’ve been. The chorus is larger than life, and deserves to be the anthem of a TikTok dance or fashion trend. It’s Jack Stauber dress-your-dog-in-ghost-sheets level of good. 

My elevator pitch for Indigo Waves is 80s underground Eurobeat gets a modern Indie twist with a splash of 8-bit video game elements. Tracks like “How?” and “Thursday” justify that pitch eloquently.

Nostalgia-driven good times run through the collection’s veins. There’s even a song called “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,” to give you an idea of what I mean. In a way, listening to Indigo Waves brings back the same sweet feeling I’d get from remembering my summers playing THPS. 

The lead single, “Smith & Weston” may be the group’s fastest piece to date and with three different guitar parts going on at any given point, it stands out to show that the group can stretch any way they’d like. The song raced into my mind and never left. I woke up at 4 AM one morning thinking I’d just had the greatest idea for a song, and as I more fully regained consciousness, I realized I’d just been listening to the track too much and it was just stuck in my head. Oof. 

The warbling, grainy, and often lo-fi sampled textures of Mirror feel magical. “Hillside,” for example, is what would sonically happen if you snuck into an abandoned arcade and all the lights came back in and you spent the whole day enjoying retro arcade games. The album feels nostalgic in an exciting way. It’s the same giddiness I felt when I first heard MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular. 

If I had to choose one song to prove the growth of the group, “IBWFU” would be my Exhibit A in the case of Indigo Waves v. The Critics. Everything, from acoustic guitars to snares and Juno synthesizers, all sound like they were baked inside of a series of yard sale VHS players in the best possible way. This isn’t a home studio mix that was ran through a cheesy plug-in, but rather a carefully curated collection of analog and digital goodness melted together. It’s like vintage studio queso dip. 

Mirror is an instant classic for synth nerds, ironic Hawaiian shirt-wearers, and anyone who isn’t allergic to a good time. It’s a record that feels like it was meant to be enjoyed on a beach drive with friends while the windows are rolled down. Indie boys and electronistas unite: this gem is for you. 

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