The term "pop" was originally used in the music industry to classify any type of music that was popular at the time. This trend persists today since we still use the term to describe music that fits comfortably on a Top 40 station. The biggest difference from then and now is that "pop" is not only just a reference to popular music, but also a genre label used to classify artists such as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. We tend to think of pop songs the same way we do candy bars and fast food. For this reason they are typically viewed as substance lacking guilty pleasures that we like in an ironic way.
With this article I want to focus on the most maligned section of the pop genre: girly pop music. Girly pop is different than other forms of music simply because all of the emphasis is focused on female vocals used to make the melody as catchy as humanly possible. In my opinion, the two artists best exemplifying what it truly means to be a girly pop star are Grimes and St. Vincent. Their music embodies all of the pure earworm delight of a massive star like Katy Perry, while also incorporating social commentary in the same manner as Beyonce'.
Claire Boucher, known by her stage name Grimes, broke out of the Indie Sphere and into the mainstream with the release of her darkly enjoyable 2012 album "Visions." She wrote the entire album over a span of three weeks in total isolation using the recording and mixing software GarageBand. The nature of her work reflects this isolation by focusing on themes of overcoming assault (Oblivion) and trying to exist without being influenced by the outside world (Be A Body). 2015's "Art Angels" saw Boucher move towards a hyper modern pop sound without sacrificing the sardonic hooks that made her previous work so interesting.
The singles Genesis and California are concise examples of everything that makes Grimes a girly pop artist of merit. The former is a dreamy slice of Synth-Pop, while the latter is a sunny rebuttal directed to critics who try to put her in an easily identifiable box. What makes the songs notable for being "girly" is that Grimes is subverting ideas of women having to play only one societal role.
Genesis celebrates the inherent strength found in feminine stereotypes (cheerleaders, schoolgirls and models) by placing them in an apocalyptic scenario. She takes this idea further in California by playing a host of different roles including a star-spangled cowgirl and a twisted medieval princess. Lyrically, California is able to tie her thoughts on her own femininity together with the chorus, "You only like me when you think I'm looking sad."
In an age where elite producers such as Max Martin (Britney Spears, Maroon 5, Pink) have near absolute control over an artists's sound and image, Annie Clark, also known as St. Vincent, has stamped out her own place in the music industry. Like Grimes, she is solely responsible for writing, performing and composing all of her own music. Unlike Grimes, she has become a pop star due to her prowess as a multi instrumentalist and not a producer.
The sound of St. Vincent is characterized by a combination of choir girl vocals, polysemous lyrics and melodically fuzzed out guitars. These core elements of the St. Vincent sound are honed to pop perfection on the relentlessly catchy singles Actor Out of Work and Digital Witness. From 2007 to 2014 she released four widely praised albums including her Grammy winning 2014 effort "St. Vincent." During this initial seven year period of high productivity she developed a consistent set of thematic ideas, which are most well defined on 2011's "Strange mercy".
"Strange Mercy" is an album based solely around all of the little forms of strange mercy that women are subjected to in the modern era. She offsets the anxious subject matter by placing it just under the surface of her deeply infectious grooves. The two standout tracks of the album, Cruel and Surgeon, display the mentality of a trapped housewife who is losing her mind because everyone is telling her she should be happy living the role society has carved out for her.
Cruel does this so well by featuring lyrics that are in staunch opposition to the poppy music itself. This disconnect creates a strange sense of apprehension that gives a deeply sad song a happy overtone. Musically, the song sounds like someone who is struggling to be satisfied by forcing themselves to believe they are by any means necessary. No where is this more well defined than in the interlude where St. Vincent sings, "bodies, can't you see what everybody wants from you? If you could want that, too, then you'll be happy."
She digs deeper into this theme in Surgeon. The track is full to the brim with nervous energy, but it gives no effort to cover her feelings in the same manner as Cruel. The chorus, "Best, finest surgeon. Come cut me open" is a direct quote from the private diary of Marilyn Monroe. Like many troubled women before her, Monroe sought a way to escape the ideals that were placed upon her. The lyric suggests that St. Vincent, like Monroe, wishes someone would cure her anxiety and depression. She channels this frustration into Surgeon's erratic, pop panic attack of an outro.
Who are your favorite girly pop artists?
