We don’t know about you, but we feel like not a week goes by where we don’t see another article, vlog, and/or hipster East London podcast proclaiming that somebody we’d never heard of is destined to save pop music.
Don’t pretend you don’t know what we’re talking about. Every morning, you open Facebook, and see a post from some Uber-Cool Blog proclaiming that ‘[gorgeous yet soulless twenty-something] is the FUTURE OF POP’. Then, you listen to a Spotify playlist on your way to work, hear ten identikit R&B/pop productions with a breathy auto-tuned vocal pasted on top, and slowly shake your head at the state of the world today.
By the time you get to your lunch break, you’d rather throw your phone out of the window than have to listen to one more dodgy tropical house cover of a genuine pop classic. Yet, you open YouTube, and what are you faced with? This.
A solitary tear rolls down your cheek. David Bowie didn’t die for this.
Sure, we might be exaggerating a bit. But, you know what we mean, don’t you?
It can’t just be us who wonders whether an abundance of soulless, faceless playlist-fillers in the contemporary pop landscape is making it harder than it should be for true Pop Stars to break through.
A True Pop Star, after all, is a particularly rare breed. They’re a fountain of personality with plenty to say; and, more often than not, a sincere belief that the world would be a far better place if we all were to simply shut up and listen to them.
Perhaps this would be easier if we gave you some examples. Matty Healy, for instance, is a True Pop Star. So are Charli XCX, Harry Styles, MARINA, and Robbie Williams.
(Liam Payne, on the other hand, is not.)
The thing is, all of those True Pop Stars we mentioned have… Urm, been around for a while.
MARINA‘s debut album came out in 2009. The 1975‘s came out in 2013. Robbie Williams‘ debut? Probably best not to think about that one.
So, if the word on the street is true and pop does need somebody to ensure that its future is more than just a set of soulless, droning mumble-vocal over crap R&B beats, we’re surely due another True Pop Star at any moment now. Now, where on Earth could we find them?
Well, dear reader, we think we’ve found the woman for the job.
Ladies and gentlemen, forgive us if this seems upfront – but, we’re willing to go on the record and say that Sigrid might just save pop music.
Of course, we always suspected that she might. When we heard her debut single, Don’t Kill My Vibe, all the way back in 2017, we figured that she may have something special about her. Then, when she spent the next two years casually popping out the likes of Strangers, Sucker Punch, and Don’t Feel Like Crying, we wondered whether she might just be The Future Of Pop.
But, do you know what really convinced us of this? Her live show.
Yes, dear reader, when we caught Sigrid‘s live show at Bristol’s O2 Academy last week, we left feeling certain that everyone’s favourite Norwegian twenty-something would be filling stadiums by the time she hits her thirties.
Journalists love to throw around the tired cliché of a Pop Star having the ‘full package’; but, in the case of Sigrid, it’s absolutely true.
After all, she’s got the voice, charisma, and stage presence to hold the 1600-capacity venue in the palm of her hand from the moment she bounds onto the stage until the moment she leaps off. How many picture-perfect Pop Stars can you think of that are capable of that?
Oh, and as for the songs? We’ve already mentioned Don’t Kill My Vibe, Strangers, Sucker Punch, and Don’t Feel Like Crying – but, have you heard Business Dinners, Raw, High Five, and/or Schedules?
They’re all aired throughout her Bristol show. They all sound supermassive. And, crucially, they are all – as #theyouth are fond of saying – ‘absolute bangers’.
Don’t believe us? Just watch:
So, if you’re still convinced that pop music is in a sorry state as it heads into this next decade, then we’d like to assure you that it’s in safe hands.
Sure, Tropical House might still be lingering around like an unpleasant stench, and there is still something of a trend of former boyband members desperately seeking #edginess by virtue of horrifically misjudged lyrics and dodgy trap beats; but, it’s not all doom and gloom.
After all, no matter what happens, we’re in safe hands with Sigrid.
