Nero were huge at one point, about 6-7 years ago. Their brand of dubstep-tinged synth pop obviously struck a chord.
But although they had their own sound distinguishing them from the competition, there was a fair amount of variation to their sound. Mainly that variation was about how poppy the song was but they did showcase a wide range of genres on their debut album in 2011, Welcome Reality.
“Reaching Out” is a trippy, retro-futuristic synth-fest, that clearly draws a lot of influence from commericialised forms of dubstep but fits in very well (especially in view of the 80s aesthetic video) within the large category of Synthwave.
The song samples from a couple of 80s tracks as well, with the appegiated synth being drawn from Kano’s 1983 Italo-Disco hit “Another Life”, and the vocals being drawn from Hall and Oates’ “Out Of Touch” (1984). Daryl Hall from Hall & Oates actually agreed to put down new vocals for the song, so he guest stars in it.
It’s chilled out, but not listless or anything like that. There’s a couple of different parts to the song.
The first is with the “reaching out, for something to hold” lyric, and an arpeggiated synth over the top of a bassline that manages to sound both sweet and industrial at the same time.
The second has some poppy synth stabs, with the song becoming more upbeat without the drums deviating from their inexorable halftime march.
The song was the sixth single from their 2011 debut, and was number 9 on the U.K. dance chart.
80s goodness from 2011!