next up in pop
featuring Olivia Rodrigo, The Linda Lindas, Alemeda, and more!
Next week, we will finally return to a normal Monday schedule! Thanks for being here!
I woke up this past Friday morning and immediately hit play on Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, GUTS. Sophomore slump this is not!
GUTS, like SOUR before it, draws inspiration from a range of artists including Paramore, Hole, Phoebe Bridgers, and Avril Lavigne. She and the album’s source material have matured since SOUR, thanks in large part to her experience with (nearly) overnight stardom. Her voice has matured too, and she’s using it in all kinds of ways: from belting ballads to fast-paced talk/singing to full on yelling. It’s energetic, it’s nostalgic for the early-aughts pop punk sound, and it’s another signal for where pop is headed.
recently wrote a great newsletter about the future of pop music. In it, she touched on the heavy use of synths in pop production over the last few years, especially by Jack Antonoff, the Reigning King of Synths. Citing Reneé Rapp’s new album, Snow Angel, she noted a recent move away from this type of production and correctly declared, “baby, guitars are back.”These are things I have been thinking about a lot since Taylor Swift released her most recent synth-heavy album, Midnights, in 2022. (Wow, you thought this somehow wasn’t going to be about Taylor?!) Don’t get me wrong, I like a synth. But it’s not the only thing I like. And it’s not feeling that interesting or fresh at the moment. Midnights was not the kind of album I wanted from Taylor, but she is very attached to Jack Antonoff, so it’s what I got.
Instead, what I wanted from Midnights is what Olivia Rodrigo and her main producer/collaborator Dan Nigro have done on GUTS: distorted guitar riffs, big drum moments, and a pop-rock sound generally.1 Olivia helped usher in the return of this sound back in 2021, and GUTS proves it’s sticking around.
Obviously, Olivia is not the only artist doing this. Today’s mix features some of my favorite songs from artists who are leaning into and pulling from the pop punk/rock revival. I’m really excited about what’s next up in pop music and where things go from here!
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I have wanted this type of album from Taylor since this performance of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” from the 1989 World Tour. Also this performance of “Wildest Dreams” at the Grammy Museum in 2015. She has it in her!!!