Mareux (US)
Mareux is the darkwave project of Los Angeles-based musician and producer Aryan Ashtiani. Over the past decade, his deeply romantic and melancholic take on electronic music has grown from an underground project into an international cult phenomenon, connecting audiences across goth, post-punk, romantic darkwave and alternative subcultures.
Blending synth-pop, coldwave and post-punk, Mareux creates an atmospheric world of glacial beats, brooding basslines, haunting synths and emotionally charged vocals. Love, longing, desire and nostalgia run throughout his music, wrapped in a seductive mix of shadowy goth aesthetics and unmistakable ’80s flair.
His breakthrough track “The Perfect Girl” became a global viral phenomenon, introducing Mareux’s darkly romantic sound to millions of listeners and helping bring a new generation towards darkwave and post-punk. His collaborations with artists including Riki and King Woman further connect Mareux to the contemporary underground, with Riki joining him on the evocative “Ébèné Fumé.”