Rather late to the party – but my what a party! Listening to Lou Hayter’s Private Sunshine, which I would say quickly has rocketed up to my favourite albums of 2021, but it was released last year. The deluxe was released this year, so sorta qualifies.
To the layman they’d probably say ‘chilled 80’s’ but I know far too much about music and thus it’s a rather disconcerting listen as you try and track the genres – 70’s Yacht rock covers meet 80’s funk and acid house via Japanese City pop and an 80/90’s British soul vocals via 2010’s YouTube algorhythms and vaporwavey stuff and DamFunk modern 80’s funk aethetic. Kind of makes my head spin that there’s nostalgia for the 10’s now?
I have a headache, too many levels!
1980’s sound has fractured into so many references, it’s like a copy of a copy of a copy now…80’s Pop Will Eat Itself, Neon Consumerism In the Age of Mechanical Production. That’s not a criticism, especially when done as smartly as this, and the videos with cutouts and executives in stock footage are totally on point.
Certainly that woozy nature that lead to the rise of City Pop as well, they are linked to the 80’s PC Music vapor side of things and it is very present here. We used to talk a lot about ‘smart pop’ around the time of Annie and Richard X, and then it seemed to get lost for EDM and a sort of maximalist sound and image over substance.
Pop seemed to dumb down, especially more so with the rise of TikTok and the idea that everyone can be famous for 15 seconds, basically ringtones as calling cards. I’m a fan of novelty but not when it bangs you over the head with repetition every 30 seconds!
I learned about Lou Hayter’s work via Don Letts, who recently played her cover of Brian Protheroe’s Pinball on his Culture Clash 6Music show. Pinball is not even a guilty pleasure, it’s a pleasure of 70’s pop, and a lost gem.
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