2024-09-24 08:14:54
Sometimes it is surprising: the more dramatic world events, the greater the need for distraction. There was some happiness to be had at that time. And so at the end of summer in crisis times, all we can say is: pop summer is wonderful. It is almost exclusively worn by women. In this vague euphoria, a gentle breeze passed through Europe: Taylor! And above all, of course, the Swifties! They turned Europe into a confetti-glitter-sequin party and even made Gelsenkirchen the place to be. Even in Vienna, after the attack plans were thwarted, people danced that night.
There’s a lot more pop to be heard from Popgirls around. Ideally, it starts in the spring with Beyoncé, the Queen (well, not the queen, but at least Queen B), who is at least a name for herself with a high quality. At the end of March she released the kind of concept album that fits seamlessly into the zeitgeist – even though Beyoncé has been working on it for four years. But “Cowboy Carter” was made for these months when young women want to party in cowboy hats and kids dance on Tiktok in cowboy boots – which also works well with “Texas Hold’Em”.
Billie is Beyoncé’s next
Queen lives up to her title: she goes deep into her work, immerses herself in a new genre and it’s hers. At the same time, he creates singers and musical parts that are good for snippets – ie for Tiktok, ie for going viral and also received by young fans. This album alone would have been enough to have the soundtrack in the pop summer, dance the night away, reminisce about the 70s and happily step into autumn.
But then Billie Eilish followed suit, releasing her third studio album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft,” at the age of 22. And after coming out as a bisexual, she showed herself to be more relaxed than ever before, soft in “Bird Of A Bird”, which sounds like an R’n’b song from the nineties, lusty and mature in “Lunch”. Billie Eilish’s third album may be her best. Before that, he liked to be non-conformist, playing with emo aesthetics (we remember spiders, black tears and black lines) and bad vibes. Now he also proved to be a very classical singer. Together with his brother and producer Finneas, he created such deep and catchy songs that he became the third artist ever to be streamed by 100 million listeners in a month on Spotify.
But it wasn’t just the well-known pop girls who dominated the charts and hit songs this summer. Two artists who have become very popular in recent months at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in early September. And both get a special reward.
Chappell Roan won Best New Artist, although at 26 he has experienced some ups and downs in the business. At the age of 17, he signed a record contract with Atlantic Records, was thrown out again during the pandemic and had to return to his parents in Missouri, where, without money, he worked in a gift shop. But he gave himself a year to take his music forward again, sharpen his artistic profile and write new songs.
Today, Chappell Roan, who describes himself as an adventurer, mostly does drag. Their songs, which are usually about passion and love, are relaxed, naughty, funny and, above all, real bangers. In his new song “Okay, Babe!” he sings about a woman who doesn’t accept his love for women. You can “kiss 100 people in bars, try one more time to stop this feeling”, you can think of many excuses and stupid reasons – Chappell Roan just wishes you luck laconically, because: “The world should wait to stop. This feeling.” Chappell Roan is well on his way to becoming the new Lady Gaga, especially if his songs are sweet and happy and they remind Katy Perry at her best (“California Gurls”!) He is also true to himself: In two videos that went viral on Tiktok, he explains why it is bad that a new armada of fans has started visiting his family and why he does not always have to come for photos with strangers. In an interview, he said that “Kind of Hope” won’t win a Grammy because then they would eventually give up. But directly they shouldn’t achieve their success, especially at a time when more and more celebrities are talking about the cult. of fame and its effect on mental well-being.You might stop the world from stopping Chappell Roan right now.
Another winner at the VMAs, besides Taylor Swift, who always gets something everywhere, is Sabrina Carpenter. His single “Espresso” was named best song, and his album “Short n’ Sweet,” which was released soon after, shot to the top of the charts. Three of their songs were in the top ten on Spotify at the same time.
After “Espresso”, a musical with crazy lyrics (“Walk in and dream come true for ya”), one can have great hope in Carpenter, who is still in his mid-20s and has released Various albums already out. On the one hand, because Carpenter is a former Disney star and is just waiting for his role, which is not surprising with the external transformation (“light-up”). Ariana Grande has become famous with a new face and new songs a few years after her supporting role in the Nickelodeon series “Victory” ended. Carpenter’s follow-up single “Please Please Please” is almost even better, his voice is more detailed, the lyrics even funnier, a little more meaningful, a little “off” (like using the word “Mother…” in the chorus). This is Gen-Z humor that sells just as well in Tiktok videos as it does on their albums as a whole. “Short n’ Sweet” is a good gag, just 36 minutes long, and Carpenter is only 1.52 meters. Sabrina Carpenter may be the pop star we’ve been waiting for.
With all heroines must also be villains, or at least anti-heroine. It’s brat this summer, “brat”. Charli xcx has been making more or less successful pop music for years, always being critically acclaimed but missing the mainstream. “Brat” is their first album that completely captures and shapes the zeitgeist, also because “Brat” is not only an album title, but also an attitude to life, viral culture, internet personality and business strategy . Charli xcx, who developed her lyrics for “Brat” as if she were writing a text message to a friend, draws us into her messenger, in which she shows her ambivalent attitude to fame and the music business, and her split relationship with the other. artists like Lorde (“Girl, So Chaotic”) and, even bolder in 2024, his conflicting feelings towards Taylor Swift – with whom he once traveled, but who seems to be successful in everything and whom Charli xcx is simply jealous of. And, “though I could never be like them, even if I tried.”
“Brat” is the album of the summer, if not of the year, because it is a brutal truth, full of hits, and at the same time the dictionary of a millennial woman, like a million of them. Charli xcx herself said she tried to reach her “inner bishi.” That also makes you vulnerable, who wants to be jealous, and then of other women? Or admit that even as a pop star you still wonder if you can combine children and a job. Complex thoughts packed into 2.15 minutes in “I Think About You All the Time” (there should be people who write whole books about it): “Because my career feels so small in the thoughts of all.”
Now Popgirl summer is over, but Popgirls songs live on, in all our playlists and hearts. And do you want a Popgirl winter.
#Taylor #Swift #Chappell #Roan #designed #summer