Pop Goes the Pandemic!

Introducing a Pandemic-Era Pop Series

Well, it’s been an exhausting and interesting fourteen months to say the least, thanks to a slew of various world events. Chief among them of course is COVID-19 and the once-in-a-lifetime (Dear God, it better be) pandemic it brought with it. While the pandemic is certainly not over, thus making this post’s catchy title perhaps a tad bit premature, the headlines of the recent days certainly increasingly suggest that we continue to turn a corner towards some long-awaited normalcy.

One of the very few silver linings of this past year has been the fact that it ultimately produced one of the strongest years in recent memory in terms of the quality music that was released. That statement applied to a wide array of genres, but we all know that pop music has always been the ultimate genre of escapism. That’s not meant to support the commonly held, and incorrect, assumption that the genre also lacks depth, of which there was plenty to unearth among these releases as well. But there really is nothing like losing yourself in a classic pop record and shutting out all the noise of the outside world.

We’ve needed those records more than ever this past year, and COVID-era pop answered the call. Therefore, as we continue to move our way out of the pandemic’s dark days, it seems like the perfect time to showcase a variety of the very best pop albums of the last year. I’m sure we’ll work our way through the equally stellar selections that were offered in other genres, but we’re going to start this weekend with pop blockbusters and quarantine soundtracks from the likes of The Weeknd and Dua Lipa, with releases from Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus likely on the radar from there.

Enjoy!