It’s no secret that raging success in pop music breeds imitation. From some middle-American 1960s garage band looking up Mersey Beat so they could sound like the Beatles to British teens in the early 2000s trying their best to sound like Amy Winehouse, the pattern probably dates back before recorded history. A style catches fire. Everyone mimics it until a couple of the copycats branch out far enough to make it sound new again.
These days, with pop music dominated by several female voices, there are an awful lot of women adding extra breathiness to their deliveries in an attempt to be mentioned in an article about Billie Eilish. Or, if they have a slightly harder edge, maybe the article is about Olivia Rodrigo. If they have a slight twang, maybe they’re going after early Taylor.
The boys don’t have as many icons to mimic because the boys haven’t been as popular for some time. But you can try the high tenor of Charlie Puth. If you’re a little too cool for that, you shoot for Bruno Mars. And if you happen to play guitar at the time, maybe you’re modeling early John Mayer.
Maddy Hicks and Peter McPoland are the voices of a new generation of musical greats
(For the record, “Taylor” and “Mayer” can be rhyming words, in case anyone wants to set the last two paragraphs to some pop tune.)
There’s nothing wrong with imitation. Gracie Abrams, Chappel Roan, Teddy Swims, Noah Kahan – I like them. I want to see where they go. But it can also lead to a lot of redundant music that threatens to simply melt into the blathersphere. Noah Kahan’s journey to stardom is a testament to the limits of imitation. When he tried to be a standard-issue pop star, he faltered.
When he began adding his own unique artistic POV to the product, we got “Stick Season.” After recently completing a week-long walking tour of Vermont, I can personally attest to that song’s enduring appeal. (Though I am not sure my walking companions would agree.)
The point is, if you merely mimic Swift or Styles, you might play clubs and small venues. If you want to break out, you need your own attitude. And with that in mind, I want to briefly recommend two of the best recent pop releases I have heard in 2024. They come from two young artists who take the dominant pop sounds of today and make them their own.
Hall of Shame by Maddy Hicks
Hicks has been in Nashville for six years now. At 24, the Belmont-trained singer-songwriter already has three nice albums on her resume. The Bliss You Missed, released when she was 19, had a sweet, if somewhat generic, youthful pop feel, both thematically and musically. She took a big step forward on her second album, 2021’s Reclaiming.
However, one of her biggest hits from that album – “For My Next Trick” – was hard to distinguish from most other pandemic-era pop music. Situationships continued that trend – a more unique voice coming through on songs like “Kind of Over It” and “Sleeping With Anxiety” while that more generic sound – to me at least – remained evident on “Picture You Naked” and “I Don’t Need To.”
Now, she has dropped her most complete effort – the five-song EP Hall of Shame. It combines her remarkable ability to merge catchy pop melodies with more jagged rhythmic changes that toughen those sweet vocals. It’s evident on the opening title track, which begins with a languid recitative before bouncing into a catchier chorus.
She uses a similar musical approach on the second track, “Told You,” which is among the best singles of the year and claims a spot in the pantheon of great spite songs. And here, Hick’s fantastic lyrical talent sparkles – “I’m sure she loves the way you coddle her – I’m sure you love dating a toddler” – is a model of snarky efficiency. And the way she throws a little high-pitched yelp into the build to the chorus is the exact thing that sets Hicks’ music apart from merely being a very good Olivia Rodrigo copy to something that has a unique flair all its own.
The remaining three songs are all strong. The trundling, self-reflexive “Roster” and the undeniably sweet “untitled” delve into doubt and insecurity, while the yearning “Don’t Look at Me” opens with the challenge “Is this lipstick gonna make you think of my mouth – And not listen to any of the words coming out?”
In the hands (or mouth) of a less assured singer/songwriter, these songs could disappear into the pop ether. But Hicks, already a veteran of Nashville at a young age, is tougher than that. Her songs are pop, but they are moving up toward the front of the line.
Friend by Peter McPoland
Like Hicks, Peter McPoland is also 24 and has a few releases under his belt. He has the pretty, high voice required of a young pop singer, and he can tap into that post-emo emotional vulnerability that seems to always be part of pop music. But to be honest, I found the overwrought piano ballad “Let Her Remember” from his debut EP, to be utterly generic. And I wasn’t much of a fan of the rest of Slow Down.
But also like Hicks, McPoland began turning away from that standard pop sound on his second release, 2023’s Piggy. It was grunged up and tougher. There were times, such as on the aggressive rocker “Digital Science,” that the shift sounded a tiny bit forced. It was still very listenable, but I actually kind of missed a little of that softer side from the debut.
On Friend, McPoland nails it. It has the sweetness of his debut but tempered by the harder edge of the follow-up. On the opener “Gruhguhguh,” McPoland sings a pretty tune about memory, but with much higher energy, a bit of fuzz, and some nifty guitar. This is almost Dave Edmunds territory, though McPoland isn’t quite as wedded to that jangle rock sound.
On “Dig Your Man,” McPoland opens on dangerous ground. “Help – I think there’s something going on” sounds a little too much like Eric Carmen, circa “All By Myself.” But as the song progresses, McPoland’s real voice emerges, and it’s well worth a listen. Just as he hits the borderline sappy “I – I Iove you” moment, he shifts into a high-energy shouting that could be mistaken for Ted Leo.
As with Hicks’ EP, the entire seven-song run on Friend remains consistently interesting, skirting the edges of breezy pop normalcy while roughing up the sound just enough to make his songs stand above the crowd.
McPoland and Hicks are both very talented songwriters who have already accomplished quite a bit in a short period of time. But to be fair, there are plenty of talented young performers out there. On their latest releases, both show that they are not content to evaporate into the mass pop cauldron that boils most modern music into a good copy of whatever current superstar is dominating the charts. Both are in the process of crafting their own version of modern pop, and it’s very exciting to witness.