What Was Your Pandemic Playlist?
As live events restart in New York, a look back and forward at music in 2021
Did musical tastes change or just become more calcified during lockdown?
This is a question I have been asking as it relates to many aspects of my life - is it possible to transform while staying in place, absent of any new stimuli? Can you create new memories by staying in your bedroom, or just new routines?
Music is a good jumping-off point for this question, because it is so deeply personal. With music streaming on Spotify and Apple Music, it’s so easy to skip to the songs that mean the most to you. Particularly in times when you’re seeking solace, everyone has their sentimental playlist.
A large piece of playlist curation is nostalgia - something a lot of people (myself included) indulged in during the initial uncertainty of the pandemic. My dad loves music videos from classic ‘80s hair bands - a reminder of the time when a shredding guitar solo was a requirement. Thanks to YouTube casting to his smart TV, the power ballads of Def Leppard, Boston, and Journey have made their triumphant returned to my childhood home.
I personally have a soft spot for the handful of albums that were on rotation in my parents’ car in the late ‘90s - including Shania Twain, Fleetwood Mac’s concert album “The Dance,” and “The Corrs, Live in Dublin.” Shania and Fleetwood Mac especially are well-remembered, but the Irish band The Corrs pulls a little less cultural weight decades later.
So when artist and former “Charlift” singer Caroline Polachek released a cover of The Corrs’ hit song “Breathless,” it instantly became my obsession. Her version combines the perfect pop songwriting of the original with more ethereal production - with bright synths and vocals that feel inspired by autotune. Her witchy live performance on “The Late Late Show” is far away from the twirling and fiddle-playing I experienced when I saw The Corrs live in Dublin in 2016. Caroline is lithe and her choreography emphasizes fluid movements (see the deliberately kitschy, throwback-y “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” video). What makes the video even more thrilling for me is the fact that Polachek and I share a mutual admiration for the corny, earnest chart-toppers of the ‘90s.
“Pop” ceased being a dirty word for the “cool” indie kids years ago, and lot of the music I clung to during the pandemic belonged to that genre. For example, the hyperpop “how i’m feeling now” by Charli XCX, created entirely during the first months of lockdown, contained many of my anthems during isolation. It’s not for everyone (like her last album “Charli,” the album is deliberately overproduced and harsh), but blasting pure electronica in my bedroom felt right for a moment where we all felt like we were trapped in an echo-ey recording booth.
“Women in Music Part III” by HAIM was also a comfort because it satisfied the Fleetwood Mac fan in me - it was West Coast soft rock with just the right about of Laurel Canyon nostalgia. The Paul Thomas Anderson-directed music videos captured the hazy summertime vibes of the record - both the sweat and the cool burn of a Corona Extra Lager on your temple.
I’ve realized that these records represent the sounds I’ve long loved, but LOUDER
Charli XCX has a pop foundation, but blows it out to epic proportions of feedback. When I listen to her songs, I feel like James Agee listening to opera with his ear pressed up against the speaker - causing permanent hearing loss just to feel something in the moment. HAIM similarly takes only the best pieces of their ‘70s influence, with sultry guitar and exuberant drums and provocative hooks. Even Caroline Polachek’s version of “Breathless” makes the song feel more urgent, more aggressive.
I suppose that absent of the intensity of the real world, I sought excitement in my music. A lot of others also sought refuge in their pandemic playlists, and they created new stars.
A good amount of artists have changed status during the pandemic, achieving a new stratosphere of fame despite not stepping foot on a touring stage
Phoebe Bridgers was scheduled to merely open for The 1975 in May 2020. The other week, tickets for the tour she is headlining in 2021 sold out in minutes, proof of the power of her second record “Punisher” (and an album rollout that never seemed to end - there have been so many Phoebe Bridgers cover stories that COVID-19 should call her agent).
Dua Lipa went from a few girl-power hit singles with her debut to being omnipresent - the earworms of “Future Nostalgia” elevated by the spectacular choreography of her live performances.
And then there’s the Taylor of it all, as no one has had a grip on the popular consciousness like T.S. She’s reached new heights by both solidifying her legacy (with “Taylor’s Version” of every one of her albums) and spinning her art off in new directions (with “Folklore” and “Evermore”)
Now, as live music venues are returning, both audiences and artists need to cope with how much has changed.
Live tours are now being announced at dizzying rates, reflecting audience hunger as well as artists’ willingness to endure the tour bus. It’s easy to make fun of the classic bands still touring (we all poke fun at The Rolling Stones), but as Bruce likes to say - there’s no rush like being onstage. I can’t help but feel that for many of these bands with now-sober members, the thrill of taking the mic is a substitute for the sex & drugs that were once a bigger part of rock & roll.
Once we get back to being pressed up against each other in general admission, I suspect pop acts will be more popular than ever - the pandemic made many realize how important happy songs are to them. People want to dance together, to sing together to songs they recognize. They want to experience the joy of being alive together (I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry Styles’ next tour breaks records, for example).
When Taylor returns to touring stadiums, she has a plethora of options for her setlist. She still hasn’t done her “Lover” world tour, and “Folklore” / “Evermore” were both produced in lockdown (And she still has to promote her “Taylor’s Version” of everything from “Red” to “Speak Now”). However, I feel it’s not the time to tour with acoustic guitars and intimate sets. I suspect we’ll get full pop monarch Taylor, “Shake It Off” Taylor, in the new year. There will be no teardrops on her guitar for now.
Just look at how Lorde (my favorite artist working) has crafted her comeback. Lorde’s influence on music has been criminally underestimated - I would argue there would be no Billie Eilish, no Olivia Rodrigo, without Ella Yelich-O'Connor’s contributions to music.
Lorde’s album “Melodrama” is a definitive breakup album - visceral and operatic in its heartache. Yet what song did Lorde return with after her long hiatus, having not released music since 2017?
“Solar Power” is the perfect song to blast out of speakers with your toes in the sand - a bright, cheeky bop. Lorde met the moment, as we’re all emerging from isolation and ready to dance.
And I’m definitely ready. Lorde is playing two nights at Radio City Music Hall next April. I’ll be there both nights.
Other Stray Thoughts
The spice must flow, and the new trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune is here. This generation deserves to have its own Lord of the Rings film trilogy moment, and I feel like this has the potential to be that phenomenon. At the very least, it’s a return to EPIC filmmaking.
I saw M. Night Shyamalan’s Old over the weekend. The critical pendulum on Shyamalan has swung so wildly over the last two decades. It has gotten to the point where I even find his flaws (really literal-minded dialogue, pretty deflating endings) kind of endearing. He’s an auteur that still gets to make his weird, personal projects at a studio level - even his failures are still 100% his.
I was surprised to find that Old was divisive with critics. I thought it was a home-run for the most part, using its brilliant concept as a jumping-off point for Shyamalan’s musings on family and aging. That said, of course Shyamalan gives himself a cameo that is so on-the-nose you can’t help but laugh.
Finally, enjoy this segment from “Late Night with Seth Meyers” of him and Lorde going day-drinking. Meyers might be my favorite of the current network TV late-night line-up because he has the space to be so casual with his guests. “Hey Seth…what’s my name?”
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