New beat is a late-1980s Belgian EDM genre fusing new wave, hi-NRG, EBM, and hip-hop

New beat is a Belgian electronic dance music genre that originated in the mid-to-late 1980s and flourished in Western Europe. It fuses new wave, hi-NRG, EBM, and elements of hip-hop such as scratching, and has been described as ‘new wave disco beat.’ Its typical instruments are synthesizer, drum machine, and sequencer, and its defining sound is slow and hypnotic — slower than its EBM antecedents. Understanding what new beat blends is the entry point to placing it in the wider genealogy of European dance music.

Examples

Commercially successful acts: Confetti’s, Lords of Acid, Technotronic. Cited influences: A Split-Second, Front 242, New Order, Gary Numan.

Assessment

Name the stylistic origins new beat fuses and place the genre on a timeline relative to EBM (before) and hardcore techno (after).