Inspired by two recent events, today’s deep drive will look at the challenges artists, especially musicians, have in staying relevant over the long haul. But first, the roundup.
Roundup
Music
It is genuinely starting to feel like the music year has wound down, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t noteworthy music being released. Last week was notable for interesting R&B, with new albums from Michael Kiwanuka, Irish urban artist Jazzy, and John Legend. The last of these was my album of the week, as it shows off why Legend and producer Pharrell Williams were two of the most important artists of the ’00s. This week lacked albums from established major artists, but I really enjoyed the new album from Presley Regier, Sensitive to the room, sensitive to the sound. Yesterday was a more interesting day for up-and-coming pop boys, with interesting albums from Presley Regier and Haiden Henderson.
Albums
- Sleeping Lion (Lennon Stella)
- Win Win (Fenny Lilly)
- Peace & Patience (Jazzy)
- Heavy Is the Crown (Anderson.Paak & Cordae)
- FUDGE (Michael Kiwanuka)
- Muse (John Legend)
- Sensitive to the room, sensitive to the sound (Presley Regier)
- bleach (Haiden Henderson)
- People Pleaser (Mollie Elizabeth)
Songs
- “Set Me Free” (Cameron Whitcomb)
- “Midnight for the Masses” (Allie X)
- “Church of Sound” (Rêve)
- “Uh Huh” (Fenne Lilly)
- “Firefles (ft. Pharrell Williams)” (John Legend)
- “My Vice Is Misery” (Presley Regier)
- “where are we running from” (Henderson Haiden)
- “PANDORA’S BOX” (Peggy)
- “ELECTRONS” (KERSTY)
Reading
- Marina (Carlos Ruiz Zafón, 1999)
- Ghost Wall (Sarah Moss, 2018)
- The Bone Houses (Emily Lloyd-Jones, 2019)
- The Book of Jonah (Luke Kennard, 2025)
- The Knight and the Moth (Rachel Gillig, 2025)
- The Knave and the Moon (Rachel Gillig, 2026)
- Slayers of Old (Jim C. Hines, 2025)
- Under Story (Chloe Benjamin, 2026)
Focus on: The Pop-Cultural Half-Life
Since at least the 1950s, popular culture in the West has been dictated by the young. As such, it has a short memory, and values what is new and emerging over what has stood the test of time. This is especially true in the world of music. Most artists have at most a decade of being ‘cool,’ after which they tend to be dismissed as a nostalgia act, and their best new music largely ignored by all but existing fans and establishment media. In that way, pop culture relevance has a rather short half-life. For example, when I was growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, there was no doubt that The Rolling Stones were important, but they weren’t relevant. They were for parents, and therefore decidedly uncool.
I’ve been thinking about this for two reasons of late. First, has been the twentieth anniversary of Taylor Swift’s self-titled debut album. It’s interesting timing, since on the one hand it’s a celebration of a truly remarkable career that as of 2024 was still reaching new heights, but also on the other hand it comes on the heels of a poorly received deluxe version of her The Life of a Showgirl album that did nothing to quell the rumblings that that original version of the album was a sign that she’d lost touch. The album’s crime? Talking about happily settling down and having a family. And while her superpower had always been to speak with the voice of her generation, that generation is now passé and its slang ‘cringe’. In a way it’s less remarkable that this is happening than that it took two decades for it to happen. Swift was herself deeply aware of this, writing songs in her early twenties about knowing the time was soon coming when she’d be replaced by someone younger and cooler. At this point the only ‘relevant’ artist who’s been around longer is Beyoncé, but she’s extended her relevance by abandoning pursuit of chart success in favour of making social and political comments with her work. She’s too glamorous and powerful to ignore.
The second was the release last week of John Legend’s wonderful collaboration with Pharrell Williams, Muse. These were unquestionably two of the most important voices in music in the ’00s, and this album shows that they are still at the peak of their powers creatively. But the album didn’t make a dent on the charts or garner much attention at all. Even these two legends, who are still cool (Williams is currently the head of men’s fashion at Louis Vuitton), can’t seem to break the curse of the pop-cultural half-life.
There are two obvious reasons why this is the case: First, people coming up in culture always define themselves to some extent in contrast to what is already happening. Existing artists are standing in their way for gigs and attention. And second, as people get older their experiences, interests, and concerns naturally change. It’s perfectly natural for someone like Taylor Swift in her mid-thirties to be thinking about settling down; it’s also perfectly natural for that not to resonate with seventeen year-olds. (Let’s face it, as much as folk enjoyed Madonna’s album this year, it’s weird hearing a sixty-eight year-old singing about the power of the club scene!)
There’s no big message here today, just some thoughts on a phenomenon that’s both understandable and sad.
