FEATURE:
Modern Life Is Rubbish
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Can Pop Regain Its Euphoria?
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I am writing a separate feature…
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later this weekend that reacts to Billie Eilish scoring big at the Grammys (26th January). There is no doubting she is an immense talent and an artist who has a long future ahead of her. Whilst I love her style of music and think that it is original and memorable, she is considered one of the biggest Pop artists of the moment; someone who is at the very top of the industry right now. Look around the Pop landscape right now, and one can see a pattern emerging in terms of sound. Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Drake are the biggest Pop artists in the world. One can put in names such as ROSALÍA, Halsey and The 1975 but, in general, one can make links and definitions. Whether you consider all of these artists purely ‘Pop’ – in terms of a sound rather than what is seen as popular – that is up to you. They are artists who are enormous and command huge popularity. Whilst the likes of Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift are idols and are creating great music, I do wonder whether Pop has turned a corner and will never get back on its former track. What I mean is that, by and large, the Pop staple of today is something darker and more introspective. I know artists like Lizzo and Christine and the Queens write more spirited music but, even then, there is a lack of euphoria and the upbeat. I have respect for artists that write from the heart and are unafraid to bring in big subjects.
Music is a platform for raising awareness and talking about important issues, but we are living through some rough times right now. I know I have concentrated on this subject numerous times and, as we move through 2020, I do wonder whether Pop will change its course. How influential is social media when it comes to the course of modern Pop? Look at your Twitter and Facebook feeds and there is so much introspection, unhappiness and narcissism. It is unavoidable when you consider anyone can post anything and, at a period in history where so many people are afraid and unsure, it does create this very negative and anxious feel. Music is a perfect way to unleash those negative feelings and find connection. If you are feeling anxious, upset or heartbroken, music seems like a safer space than social media. Fans can relate to what you are saying, and you are speaking to people who are going through the same thing. What else is to be done? If you are feeling overwhelmed or your contemporaries are writing in a certain way, you sort of have to do the same thing and fit into the scene. Naturally, there are artists who can write happier songs and big choruses but, as I will look at later, there are few that stick in the head and stand out. If anyone knows how to write big Pop hits that make you feel better, then it is the Pet Shop Boys.
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have been writing classics for decades and their latest album, Hotspot, is out now. They recently spoke with The Guardian about their latest album and music in general. The duo, quite rightly, joked (or were serious) that the acoustic guitar should be banned – we do not have the likes of Joni Mitchell making music right now so, really, what point does it serve!? Pop today is authentic and real, but is this obsession with the pure, personal and sorrowful the new normal?
“They do feel a little out of place in the current pop climate’s obsession with authenticity and ordinariness (“authenticity is a style,” notes Tennant, “and it’s always the same style”), its lyrical penchant for what they waspishly term “narcissistic misery”.
“We’re always looking for euphoria and excitement in music,” he says, “that sort of feeling we got the first time we heard Bobby O’s records, or Helter Skelter by the Beatles, or even She Loves You, going right back to being a child. That euphoric thing came back in with the rave scene in the 80s, but it isn’t really at the core of pop music now. Its context is social media; social media has actually created and defined the form of popular music and I think, unfortunately, that takes it down the narcissistic misery route. It doesn’t have the importance it once had, and that’s been the case for quite a while. It’s become a facet of social media. You know, everything we do, there’s people working out how to edit it down to 10 seconds, literally everything. I wonder what would happen now if you released Bohemian Rhapsody”.
One cannot blindly say all Pop music is dour and lacking in warmth, but it is clear the mainstream is defined by something edgy, colder and unhappy. Even when artists try warmth and lift, it seems rather empty and weak. I have been thinking and musing as to when I last heard a good-old Pop banger. Lizzo has created big songs like Juice, but I find I cannot sing along to that song and it is not as universal as the best Pop music. There are smaller artists who write nice Pop songs with a bit of kick, but they are buried and not as regarded as the bigger artists. My point is that, even when the world is shaking and on fire, that does not preclude musicians from writing great and happy Pop. I have said it many times before: the world was not in this perfect state back in the 1980s and 1990s. We have always struggled and, actually, faced bigger dilemmas and struggles than what we are going through now. Is it the case artists feel silly writing euphoric Pop? Do they lack the talent to pen big hooks and choruses, or do they feel that sort of sound has no place? It is clear the biggest and best Pop artists command attention now, but how many of their songs will be played and remembered decades from now? The best Pop music is not remembered fondly because it was a better time then or we want to be nostalgic. These songs endure because there is an optimism and something in them that speaks to everyone and transcends time and place.
I have just written a feature about Róisín Murphy and the fact that she is releasing these Disco bangers. There are, I know, sadder elements to the lyrics, but you listen to songs like Incapable, and there is this optimism; a beat and strut that makes you feel better. Pop artists like Dua Lipa are trying to bring something more impassioned to Pop but, even then, one feels like third gear is being used a lot – can artists truly get into fifth gear and provide the world something that is genuinely euphoric, without dampening it down? Artists like Murphy are, sadly, in the minority right now. All is not lost in this world; it is never going to be lost and, in our ordinary lives, most of us have a lot to be thankful for and are not living under a cloud of misery. Why, then, does Pop music (and many other genres) feel the need to keep the mood low and edgy? There are articles that posit a link between social media and music, and other articles underline the fact there are so many distractions these days. Perhaps it is impossible to go back and recapture that spirit. Solo artists like Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi are defining modern music with music that is very personal, pained and plain boring. I can appreciate how difficult it is to summon up something original and euphoric that sounds fresh and is not a repeat of an older sound.
I will round things up but, as we all need to be roused and made positive, music is not really delivering. One cannot solely blame Pop but, as it garners the most focus, one has to put some of the blame at its feet. I do really respect big artists like Billie Eilish but, alongside her and her peers, where is the euphoria and the alternative wave? Pop now is so skewed to the darker or experimental, there is desperately little in the way of anthems, happiness and the sort of track that nestles in the brain and releases endorphins. We have not got to the point where the darkness has descended and there is no ray of hope, but one wouldn’t know that listening to modern Pop. It might be tricky to find that energy and inspiration, but we all need music that joins us together and puts us in a better mood. Narcissism and experimentation has become too much a staple. Even when artists are trying to write something upbeat, I find there is something lacking – almost hitting fifth gear, but still stuck in third. I tend to find I listen more to older music now and, as I need something happier, there are few acts from today that I go back to time and time again. Maybe that is me being picky and elitist, but it is hard to find a lot of joy and euphoria in modern music. It is not only Pop that is culpable of putting the personal above the unifying and uplifting. I am not one who thinks Pop music is lost and can never regain its spark. Although euphoric explosion in Pop seems a long way away, I think the revival…
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CAN still happen.