Dear Haters of Evolving Sound in Music,
I don't know what it is about people just automatically hating a track because it doesn't "sound like them." I don't understand because music is in a constant loop of change and there will always be a new style. Like, I could understand if you just REALLY love the sound of a band's older music, but why not embrace the new sound? Why not appreciate that an artist or band has been around for SO LONG that it has the ability to reinvent invent themselves into a new sound?
I recently listened to Fall Out Boy's new track "Young and Menace," and I was taken aback by its electronic sound, but was also in complete awe of how it all fit together. Does it sound anything like their "old music?" I wouldn't dream of comparing this to Infinity on High. This isn't the Fall Out Boy I grew up listening to on the bus ride home from school. No, this is the Fall Out Boy that, if I ever wanted to start a rebellion, would be the authors of the soundtrack that backed the vibe. This creates a whole different emotion in my very soul.
I listened to "Hard Times" and was immediately reminded of why I love Paramore to begin with: their music is always jumping, there's never one bad lyric, and it's always catchy in some way. Hayley Williams could write about unicorns and puppies and I could vibe to that for two years after its release.
I give these examples because artists, by nature, are allowed to change how they want to sound. That's their prerogative, and I don't think anyone should try to get in the way of that. A band or singer or songwriter should not be hated for creating a new sound. It isn't natural to hate someone's new groove.
Think of it this way: a new sound is created so that the old sound can be remembered. To me, it's nostalgic to think back to "Sugar, We're Going Down" and remember what it was like growing up in the 2000s. I get an instant grin across my face when that plucking cello starts to sound at the beginning of "I Write Sins Not Tragedies." I have these feelings every time I hear a song from my childhood on the radio or when it comes floating across my Spotify shuffle.
Why are we so afraid to embrace a new sound but are yet so nostalgic over the biggest hits from the 80s? Has time not changed? A change in sound is rather refreshing and it gets incredibly boring to hear the same sound over and over again (hence why I will not listen to Cher. Sorry, not sorry. Full offense).
All I'm saying is that you should stop whining about how music is becoming crap and enjoy the fact that we are still free to hear new and good and creative music. We are all allowed to have our own tastes in music, but we shouldn't shame an artist for creating a new sound.
An artist will only stick around and stay in music for so long. Why shouldn't you embrace the sound of the modern times instead of dwelling on the good music of the past? I say live in the now and enjoy the new music being released.