RIP Kavinsky: The world-building producer who gave colour to the brooding sound of synthwave

On July 28, to the shock of dance music fans and artists around the world, French producer Kavinsky, AKA Vincent Belorgey, passed away at the age of 50. The news sent shockwaves far and wide as those who knew Belorgey came forward to pay their respects to a “true original”, an artist who gave life to some of the most entrancing and innovative synthwave productions of his era.

From the very formative years of his life, Vincent found solace in the world of film. Born in the outskirts of Paris at the tail-end of the French New Wave movement, led by visionaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, Vincent saw the beauty of the silver screen from a musician’s approach. He soon made his acting debut, but it was in 2007 when he landed his first film score, contributing his own music to a comedy picture from his close friend Quentin Dupieux, AKA Mr. Oizo. It was a pivotal moment for Vincent, who had already begun to lay the foundations for a soon-to-be successful career in music.

It was these early influences from the film world, as well as his love for video games, that drew Vincent to producing vivid and cinematic music, dabbling in electro and the then-teeming sound of French touch, often accompanied by matching animated visuals. He drew up a vision for the Kavinsky project, one that featured a central, Ferrari Testarossa-driving character (of which he pays homage to in his 2005-released track ‘Testarossa Autodrive’), who Vincent later likened to himself. But this character's storyline, set in the 1980s, followed him as he crashed that Ferrari and returned as a zombie years later with a hero's quest to make electronic music.

Like his French electronic counterparts Daft Punk and Justice, Kavinsky was a visual storyteller. Though he’d found some success touring with those already notable artists, it was with his 2010-released track ‘Nightcall’ that everything changed. Featuring Brazilian singer Lovefoxxx and some heavily-vocoded sample vocals that gave it its eerie, robotic feel, ‘Nightcall’ was enlisted for the soundtrack of Nicolas Winding Refn’s film Drive the year after its release. Ostensibly starring Ryan Gosling, the film's soundtrack outshone the Hollywood cast, with Kavinsky's retro style of synthwave setting the gritty, neo-noir tone through the opening credits.

Quickly, the track – which was produced alongside SebastiAn and Daft Punk's Guy-Manuel – hit Billboard’s Top 100 and gained momentum globally. But it was also this track, Kavinsky told us years later in a rare retrospective interview, that pushed him away from making music. While his debut album ‘OutRun’ landed just a couple of years later after almost a decade in the making, it would be his final body of work for some time.

"After ‘Nightcall’ was released and it had huge success, there was a bit of pressure. I took some good time away," he recalled when speaking to Mixmag in 2022. "With such success, you have the opportunity to take your time, chill and do things you could never have done before. I want people to talk to me about something other than ‘Nightcall’ now, even though Drive was a huge help for me and I still thank the director for including my music in it."

In the years between his surprise 2021 comeback with the Cautious Clay-featuring single ‘Renegade’ and later his second and final album ‘Reborn’, rumours were flying that Kavinsky was back in the studio with one of his earliest collaborators, The Weeknd. But nothing ever came of those suspicions. When The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, heard of Vincent’s passing, he described the late producer as "an inspiration to so many, including myself", and for the first time ever, performed their joint single ‘Odd Look’ live at a show in Germany.

In recent years, Vincent was able to revisit the music he so loved to produce. Inextricably linked to the film world, he carried that character – a vision of himself – through to his second album, and recognised that the pressure of making a hit had all but passed. On ‘Reborn’, Kavinsky was authentic and playful, using newfangled equipment, rather than just his trusty computer, to create a masterful work of electro and retrofuturistic synth-pop.

One of the many collaborators on ‘Reborn’, Sébastian Tellier, described Vincent as a "one of a kind" artist and a "legend" whose "masterful music will stay with me – and all of us – forever".

In 2024, ‘Nightcall’ returned to the spotlight after Kavinsky performed the seminal track during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris alongside Phoenix and Belgian pop singer Angèle. It broke the record for the most Shazammed song in a single day, and flew back into international music charts.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has previously advocated for French touch to be granted UNESCO cultural heritage status, called Kavinsky a "source of French pride forever" following his untimely passing.

Vincent is not only remembered for his "hilarious" and "caring" attitude throughout his life by friends, but for refusing to be boxed in by his sound. Kavinsky gave colour to the gloominess of synthwave and electro, his vivid imagination infused a theatrical edge to his contemplative sound. He will forever be remembered as a hero of the French house scene, deeply respected by its pioneers.