Gunship

England's Gunship fuse sleek, melodic synthwave with a retro-futuristic visual identity that has attracted a global audience and an unusually varied list of collaborators, among them director/composer John Carpenter and celebrity tattoo artist and singer Kat Von D. The band has issued three albums to date: 2018's Dark All Day and the guest-laden Unicorn, which arrived in 2023.

Alex Westway and Dan Haigh, both formerly of Fightstar, joined forces with Alex Gingell to form the group in 2014. Drawing on the imagery and sounds of 1980s film, television, video games, and futuristic pop, they shaped a luminous synth-driven style wrapped in neon aesthetics. Their self-titled debut appeared in 2015, supported by an inventive clip for the single "Tech Noir" that featured notorious sci-fi/horror director and soundtrack pioneer John Carpenter and was directed by Lee Hardcastle. Three years later the trio delivered their second album, Dark All Day, whose roster included Wil Weaton, Kat Von D, and saxophonist Tim Capello of Lost Boys fame. The record reached the top of both the U.K. dance chart and Billboard's Heatseekers chart. In 2019 Gunship appeared in the documentary Rise of the Synths, which chronicled the rising synthwave movement, and they also issued standalone collaborative singles such as "Berserker," recorded with Tyler Bates and Dave Lombardo, and "Ghost," made with Melbourne duo Power Glove.

When the band finished their third album, Unicorn, in 2023, the lineup of outside contributors had grown further to encompass Bush's Gavin Rossdale, Luna's Britta Phillips, and Charlie Simpson.