Photo Courtesy of Belfast News Letter
Nostalgia the very idea of a sentimental attachment to a past era has never been immune to being ascribed the role of bait within the entertainment world. From the recent influx of live-action adaptations of animated classics to another influx of rebooted fan-favorites (live-action or otherwise), pop culture seems to be heading in the direction of reminiscence and music is no exception.
The title of British pop starlet Dua Lipas sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, which was released in tandem with the initial rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, was a thesis statement in and of itself of that particular body of work: It was meant to be a moment of reminiscence for a long-gone era, albeit one that acknowledges that life moves on. Ultimately, the album is not meant to be a spatial museum of music, despite a number of critics framing it as such (Pitchforks Anna Gaca describes it as a flashy dancefloor timewarp). Future Nostalgia is just a recollection of the collective memories of the starlets generation within the context of the kind of pop culture Lipa consumed herself (or on a secondhand basis, through her parents) as an adolescent.
Obviously, this throwback shtick is nothing new, if the direction in which Bruno Mars or The Weeknds career endeavors have been moving since the mid-2010s is of any indication, but most of the attempts at recreating the signature synthwave sounds of the 1980s in modern pop songs often sounded dated in quite the inevitably moot way (think Mars Treasure, which was released in 2012, shortly before Mars got heavily associated with old-school sounds). However, trial and error has always been the engine of pop culture. If it werent for the tracks that ended up indistinguishable from the content one could easily find on the CD racks of any local radio station circa 1984, hits like As It Was, the latest effort from former One Direction member Harry Styles to contribute to the craze, wouldnt have materialized in the way it did, which led to quite the critical and fan acclaim alike.
The musical refrain to As It Was notably makes the track sound like a distant cousin of the opening riffs to Take On Me, a song that propelled Norwegian band a-ha to worldwide fame, and one that is often named as a musical defining moment of the 1980s overall.
As It Was is the lead single off Harrys House, Styles third album as a soloist, which is slated for a May release. The project may mark a transition from the soft rock sounds of the 1970s that Styles debut solo album utilized to a more synthesizer-centric 1980s flair, although only time may tell in this case. Interestingly enough, his sophomore album Fine Line (released in November 2019) is not considered a nostalgia-driven record.
Because the 2020s are, arguably, still starting, many of the decade-defining elements of this era remain a mystery. Whether the nostalgia-driven tropes of todays pop music are here to stay or not, they do not look like an unwelcome change in the slightest. It is too early to predict the extent of the longevity of such, but one things for certain: adding a saxophone solo (or two) to the 2020s wouldnt really hurt.
