Retro Jacket is a music project from Austria blending cinematic synthwave, synthpop, retro influences and modern storytelling. Recurring vocal personas such as Mara Vale and Callum Foster give different songs their own character while still belonging to the same musical world.
Inspired by movies, video games and pop culture, Retro Jacket is built around songs that feel like little stories — sometimes dark, sometimes romantic, sometimes catchy, emotional or simply human. The focus is less on genre rules and more on atmosphere, characters and the moments underneath the surface.
Behind Retro Jacket is Johannes, a songwriter, composer and producer who lives with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). His creative process is hybrid, combining songwriting, composition, arrangement, instrumental recording and hands-on production with AI-assisted tools. Each track is developed, reworked and refined step by step until it feels right and has a clear identity.