There’s a particular kind of nostalgia attached to the future we were once promised. Chrome surfaces, neon skylines, talking cars, glowing dashboards and synthesisers announcing that tomorrow had finally arrived. And on his newest album Yesterday’s Future, Magdi Aboul-Kheir taps directly into that collective memory and turns it into nine tracks of bright, melodic retro-futurism.
The Germany-based composer has already shown a willingness to move freely between styles, from ambient and orchestral work to intimate piano pieces and vintage electronics. Here, however, he leans fully into the technicolour optimism of 80s pop culture, building an album around the sound of an imagined future that now belongs firmly to the past.
Synthesisers and drum machines form the backbone, creating an immediate sense of motion, while electric guitars frequently push through the electronics with a bigger, more triumphant presence. Occasional string arrangements widen the palette further, keeping the album from becoming a straightforward exercise in synthwave nostalgia.
But regardless of how elaborate the production becomes, the tracks are built around themes designed to remain memorable. That accessibility is important because Yesterday’s Future could easily have disappeared into stylistic pastiche. Instead, the retro references are treated as raw material rather than a mere destination.
The album also feels like a natural continuation of his 2025 offering Into the Retroverse, but with the dial turned further towards speed, scale and exuberance. Where his wider catalogue often allows space for reflection, Yesterday’s Future seems far more interested in propulsion.
There’s no need to search for hidden darkness beneath every synth line or guitar flourish. Sometimes music can simply revel in imagination, colour and movement, and Magdi Aboul-Kheir embraces that possibility without apology.
Yet beneath all the retro machinery is the quietly intriguing idea that every generation invents a version of tomorrow, only to eventually watch it become yesterday.
Magdi Aboul-Kheir has created a record that feels nostalgic without becoming stuck in the past. It’s energetic, melodic and wonderfully committed to the idea that the future sounded better when it was still a dream.