Throughout the 2020s so far, female musicians have dominated the average teenage girl’s Spotify Wrapped with emotionally dense albums — music that is instrumentally stripped back, lyrically complex and just unapologetically sad. Following the isolation of the pandemic, and especially during the colder months, young people have gravitated towards albums such as “folklore” and “evermore” by Taylor Swift, “Punisher” by Phoebe Bridgers and “songs” by Adrienne Lenker, to name a few.
While I find the term “sad girl music” to be reductive, there is some validity to it. We tend to latch onto music that is raw and relatable, albeit devastating. However, it seems like this era may be coming to an end. Many have considered 2024 to be a mini pop renaissance, with new hit albums from Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and more, as well as extremely successful world tours by artists such as Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. Among them is a hyperpop album that became the cultural zeitgeist of the summer, and is still stuck in our heads well into October: “BRAT” by Charli XCX.
“BRAT” was released on June 7, followed shortly after by “Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not” and most recently, “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat” released on Oct. 14. What is interesting to me is that after the success of Brat Summer (which makes sense –– people listen to pop music during summer), some are still ready for Brat Autumn. It has even just now reached #1 on the UK charts.
Whether it’s the memorable branding, the variety of features, the calculated album rollout, the TikTok trends or the excitement of the Sweat tour with Troye Sivan, this album has far greater longevity than many expected. As someone who latched onto it right when it came out, I, too, am surprised by how much I still enjoy it. Although I was influenced by the fun trend of Brat Summer, I don’t think any of the marketing tactics would have been as effective if the music itself was not captivating, fresh and meaningful.
The most recent version of the album filled with features by various artists expands the story and introduces reconstructions of the songs. It is even more experimental than the original, and more emotionally honest as well. It seems that electronic music can leave a longer-lasting impact than just a memory of a night at the Boiler Room. This era has yet to decline in relevancy, and it leaves me to wonder — this fall, are we leaving poetry and acoustics behind? Better yet, are we letting autotune and synths soundtrack our lives instead?
“I didn’t want any metaphors –– like, at all,” Charli said in an interview with Billboard. She accomplishes this while still managing to create deeply meaningful songs such as “So I,” written about her late friend Sophie, and “Sympathy is a knife,” which discusses her struggles with comparison under the spotlight. One that stuck out to me was on the new remix album, “I think about it all the time featuring bon iver,” which is now even more sad than it was originally. It explores Charli’s struggle balancing her desire to have a family with the uncertainty and commitment of her career.
When I saw Bon Iver on the tracklist, I wasn’t sure she would be able to pull off merging two completely different genres. However, the honesty and bluntness of the lyrics mixed with the unique sound is effective in being authentic to both her genre and to what she intended to say.
Experimental electronic music bleeding into the mainstream opens doors for what resonates with the Gen Z audience. “BRAT” isn’t the only example of this. Magdalena Bay’s new record “Imaginal Disk” has been making waves, and I would even consider a few tracks on Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard And Soft” to fall under this genre as well. It leads me to believe that as pop artists we grew up with continue to experiment and find their sound, Gen Z fans are getting exposed to more sonically diverse pop music.
As I continue to dip my toes into experimental pop, an album that has become my new obsession this October is Imogen Heap’s highly influential 2005 record “Speak for Yourself.” It includes recognizable tracks such as “Goodnight and Go” and “Hide and Seek,” but I have seen more songs from the record circulate on social media lately, such as “Headlock” and “Just For Now.”
The album is full of captivating electronic sounds, varied instrumentals and evocative lyricism. This type of music proves that songs can be both catchy and unique, both synthesized and emotional. I highly recommend this album if you are not yet familiar. Maybe we’re starting to get bored of the traditional “sad girl music” that has dominated the 2020s –– maybe experimental pop is exactly what we need to freshen up our playlists this fall.