I’m a classical music critic and I finally ‘get’ Beyoncé.
I don’t remember the last time I went to a concert that had lyrics in it, and my Spotify Wrapped is far more likely to feature Mahler, Glass and Morricone than Britney, Charli, Beyoncé or Kylie’s pop music.
At least once a week, I park myself in theatres in which I am the youngest attendee by at least three decades and scribble reviews in a notebook, while a chamber ensemble or 70-piece orchestra plays music written hundreds of years ago.
I am not, therefore, the first person to be word-perfect on the latest Lady Gaga single or be all that fussed by The Life of a Showgirl.
And yet, I have been smashing the replay button on Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE for two weeks straight and, because of that, genuinely feel like I can do anything from rob a bank to dance topless at Poof Doof (both equally terrifying). Pop music power, I guess!
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Pop music discovery
Like the best discoveries, this was all a happy accident. It was at a drag show for Melbourne Fringe, where the song ‘PURE/HONEY’ was selected as the backing track for a particularly fierce dance routine. So ignited the flame of world-conquering beats that have inhabited my ears in recent weeks.
Beside the stomping bassline that makes you want to kick down doors and headbutt glass ceilings, the song’s lyrics are fabulously empowering. As is much the case with the broader album, and its subsequent companion release COWBOY CARTER, this particular song communicates the dominating self-assurance of queer ballroom culture into a riotously catchy earworm.
Beside the most obvious hook;
“It should cost a billion to look this good,”
there are many other bold statements in the track that make you feel like shooting your shot on just about everything from the barista you’ve had a crush on for a half a year, to the colleague at work who keeps cornering you with unwanted small talk.
All this to say, it’s not surprising that the top comment of the YouTube video for ‘PURE/HONEY’ says just as much: “beyoncé always gives me a boost of confidence with her music. this track makes me feel invincible. she’s so excellent.”
Of course, the phenomenon of female pop stars dropping catchy anthems to self-affirmation is nothing new.
There’s a pop music resurgence right now – a renaissance, if you will – of contemporary tracks that are giving listeners the power to do just about anything.
A pop music resurgence
Shifting ends of the spectrum, from the Queen Bee to Gen Z, we land at Sabrina Carpenter. Situated in plenty of hot water of late for the controversial cover art of her latest album, Man’s Best Friend, the 26-year-old pop princess is a mistress for drawing high-volume reactions from her artistic output.
Throw in frothy beats and playful lyrics, as well as some deliciously sun-soaked visuals, and you end up with a hit like Espresso. By fusing a fist-swinging mantra of career pride with sardonic irreverence, Carpenter launches a rally cry to everybody who wants to put themselves first.
In a world that demands every spare ounce of your creative and mental energies. Carpenter invites us to put ourselves first with the line, “I’m working late, ‘cause I’m a singer / Oh, he looks so cute wrapped ‘round my finger.”
Keeping on-trend with hits to help you recognise your own value, in a scintillatingly modern reworking of the ‘don’t need no man’ trope of the disco era, we find Dua Lipa’s Houdini. With an impossibly catchy chorus, the top-tier banger from 2023 calls upon the listener to make time only for those who are worthy of it, and to stop pouring your heart into fruitless endeavours.
With the line, “Prove you got the right to please / Everybody loves a show,” Dua Lipa compels you to expect better and to entertain the belief that you are deserving of a show. Simply put, don’t be bowled over by the bare minimum and if the object of your desire can’t put in the hard graft and woo you like they should, then feel free to pull a Houdini and vanish.
Why you should give it a go
With other members of the contemporary pop brigade bringing up the rear, the aforementioned Taylor Swift, breaking down gender double standards in The Man, and Olivia Rodrigo reclaiming the narrative against exploitation and abuse in vampire; there is no shortage of earworm empowerment to stack your playlists.
What makes all of these artists so compelling is that the choice of subject matter extends well beyond the weepy topics of heartbreak and thwarted romance that commonly occupies power ballads and viral breakup songs right now.
Aided by high-tempo melodies that lift your feet and make you want to throw your head back in the open roof of a candy-coloured convertible, these pop music tracks boldly remind us that we’re worth more than the fuckboy that ghosts you before a first date.
If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about from my end, take a look at why classical music isn’t just for old farts – and why you’d probably like it.
