College & Electric Youth

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

College & Electric Youth · Electric Youth is a Canadian synth-pop duo from Toronto. Bronwyn Griffin sings and writes, Austin Garrick produces, writes and plays synthesizer and drums. The two have been together since grade eight. Their breakthrough came in 2011 when their song A Real Hero, made in collaboration with College, was given a prominent place in the film Drive.

Music and breakthrough

Garrick wrote the song partly in response to the pilot Chesley Sullenberger and the emergency landing of flight 1549. A Real Hero was nominated for an MTV Movie Award in 2012 and, according to Spin magazine, was among the twenty best songs of 2011. At the end of 2013 Electric Youth signed to Last Gang Records and Secretly Canadian. In 2014 the debut album Innerworld was released, with additional production by Vince Clarke of Erasure, Yazoo and Depeche Mode. Rolling Stone named the duo one of ten artists you needed to know in 2014. In 2019 Memory Emotion followed, which received a Juno Award nomination.

Influence

The music sounds like a dream of the 1980s: cool synthesizers, a steady drum machine and a clear, almost whispered singing voice. Garrick himself says that the duo does not want to imitate the past but to make something for the future. The duo's contribution to Drive helped make synthwave known to a large audience.

Listening

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  A Real Hero · College & Electric Youth, 2010
  Apple Music ↗