2010s

Elle King's new album just came out this past Friday. I bought it on iTunes, and I have to say I was extremely impressed. It's clear Elle has a sincere appreciation of both classic Motown soul, as well as hard psychedelic rock, and she mixes these retro influences deftly with her flavourful vocals, which are somehow high and cutesy yet grittily badass at the same time. The lyrics are also evocative, entertaining, and written with a human edginess that animates their generally basic premises to soaring heights.

SharksFan99, if you're looking for new music that actually rocks and has some honest, passionate songwriting, then I recommend Shake the Spirit all the way.

www.ariacharts.com.au/news/2018/aria-enters-a-new-era-with-a-logo-refresh-and-new-

ARIA have announced that they are going to change the way in which they calculate chart placements. Starting from the week ending on the 27th October, ARIA will be placing a greater emphasis on paid subscription streams. The new chart methodology will be similar to that of the UK Singles Chart.

No, not a bad song at all but I don't really see myself liking that kind of music. 
Anyways, it seems the late 2010s have been somewhat defined by solo artists that have left groups that were popular in the early/mid part of the decade. You have this, Normani, Camilla Cabello, ZAYN and the rest of the One Direction members. If im being honest though, the only one that it seems might have a successful solo career is Camilla Cabello and maybe ZAYN.

Yeah, that's a trend I've noticed as well. When you think about it, there haven't really been a lot of artists who have emerged in the Late 2010s (without having already been known/popular in the Mid 2010s) and have become huge overnight successes. I know there's Cardi B. and Post Malone, but other than those two, no one else has really went on to define the era. 

I agree with you in regards to Camilla Cabello, but in relation to ZAYN, I personally don't think he will have a lengthy solo career, to be honest. Once 2010s-style EDM is phased out in the mainstream, I honestly can't see him achieving any more success on the Top-40 charts. I think his success will mostly be confined to the Mid-Late 2010s. 

Just out of curiosity, what's your opinion of Harry Styles' solo career? Out of all the One Direction members, I actually think Harry will have the most successful solo career. He was the "face" of One Direction and I think he released "Sign of the Times" with the intention of setting himself up for the long-term. There was even talk earlier in the year about him possibly playing the role of James Bond once Daniel Craig retires. 


I completely agree. If it wasn't for Cardi B featuring in the song, I highly doubt that it would be as successful as it is. I would personally have to agree with what #Infinity said in regards to Maroon 5; they ceased to exist as a band once "Moves Like Jagger" was released. Since then, they have pretty much been the embodiment of shallow, heavily commercialised pop music. 

After some time, I've revoked my earlier thoughts that 2018 was the best year for music of this decade in awhile. During the first half of the year, I was optimistic that we were finally moving past the dreary age of trap and misery-pop, but all the refreshing diversity that Dua Lipa, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Bruno Mars, and even Justin Timberlake brought early on has now been swept under the rug by charts almost completely overrun by schlocky emo rap, abhorrently narcissist and indifferently delivered trap music, and goddamn Cardi B being the only true recent new star. The charts right now are exactly what I feared this entire year would be like at the end of last year. My interest in pop music has pretty much completely subsided for the time-being. I'm now much more focused on eurobeat, J-Pop, and of course retro music. The state of music in the west today is absolutely depressing, even with a few solid albums making some buzz for a few days each. Thanks to a strong first half, 2018 is still superior to 2016, but at this point, I'd probably rank it below 2017 and even 2015, which at least had plenty of real pop music doing well and not just all this mopey drivel and infuriatingly crass and barebones trap.

The only songs from the second-half of 2018 which I don't mind are "Leave a Light On" (a soccer-hit that is currently a Top-40 hit in Europe and Australia) and "Natural" by Imagine Dragons. Besides those two songs, I would have to agree that the charts currently have very little in terms of variety and genuinely decent songs. I'm honestly not expecting the charts to be any different in another 12-18 months time; Trap and 2010s-style EDM are showing no signs of declining.