Albums that changed my brain chemistry growing up
Before TikTok music and Spotify Wrapped, we had Tumblr and YouTube.
When I think about the 2010s, I think about two different aesthetics. One where bright colors, electronic dance music, and selfies with yellow filters predominated. The other was less bubbly and more angsty: grunge fashion, indie rock, and pictures with blue filters and low saturation.
But, most importantly, when I think about this period, I think about the music that impacted me and held my hand through adolescence.
In the early 2010s, alternative music gained popularity on the radio. Mainly because of artists like Lana del Rey, who laid the foundations for what a pop artist can do and say with their art today. John Anthony Nassam argues, “Her refusal to conform to industry expectations paved the way for a new generation of artists seeking genuine self-expression.”
Lana broke boundaries in an era where artists like Katy Perry, One Direction, and Justin Bieber dominated the charts by singing optimistic, upbeat songs, and she did it by allowing pop to be sad. Inspiring artists like Lorde and Billie Eilish to experiment with their craft and ultimately become successful pop artists.
Between 2012 and 2014, young women online (me included) became obsessed with female artists like Marina and the Diamonds, Melanie Martinez, Halsey, and Tove Lo, who became staples of the “Sad Girl” music. This trend (which persists to this day) was defined by songs with sad lyrics that addressed mental health issues, toxic relationships, and poor self-esteem, as opposed to traditional pop, which primarily focused on romantic love.
I became obsessed with all the “Sad Girl” artists, mostly because I couldn't relate to the popular love songs. But I could identify with songs about hating oneself and suicidal ideation. Songs like Teen Idle by Marina and The Diamonds and Ribs by Lorde made me feel like it was okay to be flawed and scared of growing up and all the turmoil that came with it.
When I first heard Lana del Rey's debut album, Born to Die, I felt my brain's cables being rewired. The album’s lyrics were vulnerable and drew from personal experiences, which made me feel connected to her. Lana’s soft, whispery voice transported me to a different world—a world of pain and beauty, a world of imperfection. In addition, the music videos for the album were beautifully shot, and the whole aesthetic of them cemented this very specific vibe that indie artists are still drawing inspiration from.
But Born to Die was not the only album that changed the chemistry of my brain in my teenage years. Artists like Lorde, Troye Sivan, and Halsey made some of my favorite albums of the 2010s, so let’s discuss a little bit about each of them and why I love them.
Blue Neighbourhood by Troye Sivan is an album that is pop all the way. From synth-pop to electropop, the record deals with the recollections of a young gay man navigating life and trying to find comfort in an uncertain world. I love this album because it brings specific memories that I cherish to this day, such as waiting for weeks to watch the finale of the Blue Neighbourhood trilogy, a devastating collection of music videos that tells the story of two friends who are in love but can’t be together due to homophobia and societal expectations. I still remember watching the Talk Me Down video at 5:30 AM before going to school and sobbing at the end.
Badlands by Halsey evoked a similar feeling in me as Born to Die did, but this record felt a little more angsty and a little more youthful. I was mainly attracted to the aesthetic around it; it was dark and feminine, with an old Hollywood feel to it, especially on songs like “New Americana.” My favorite song on the record is Ghost, which might or may not be because it was one of the first music videos I watched that portrayed a romantic relationship between two women.
The 1975 by The 1975 wasn’t an album with themes I could relate to, but it introduced me to a band that has remained my favorite for years. Their commitment to not conforming to the music industry’s ideal of a rock band stirred something in me, and listening to their debut album always brings back good memories, like watching the music video for “Robbers” countless times a day on YouTube or dancing to “Chocolate” in my old childhood bedroom.
Red by Taylor Swift was the album that cemented my love for Taylor. Songs like “Holy Ground,” “The Last Time,” and “Red” made me fall in love with her songwriting due to its vivid imagery and ability to make you feel like Taylor’s emotions belong to you. Red is an album that’s all over the place (😉), and the main reason I love it. Its genres range from electro-pop to country to pop-rock and even folk. It was also the transition album that allowed her to go from a country artist to a global pop star, and to this day, it remains my favorite of hers.
5 Seconds of Summer and Sounds Good Feels Good by 5SOS, the first two albums by the band, made my fourteen-year-old self believe I was punk for listening to songs like “Heartbreak Girl,” “Jet Black Heart,” and “Don’t Stop.” To me, these albums felt like a coming-of-age story I could pretend to star in, and their lyrics helped me through hard times, which is why I always look back at them with love.
Melodrama by Lorde. An album that critics have defined as ‘pop perfection’ and “a study of being a young woman finding her own conviction in unsteady circumstances”. Melodrama came out in 2017, during my late teenage years, and it felt like the perfect album for me to say goodbye to my teenage self and welcome the intricacy of womanhood. Listening to lines like “I’m nineteen and I’m on fire” or “I am my mother’s child, I’ll love you till my breathing stops, I’ll love you till you call the cops on me” ignited a spark in me, one that hasn’t extinguished yet.
Hearing Melodrama and the other albums I mentioned always feel like reconnecting with an old friend and exchanging stories about our shared past, and they cemented my love for music and obsession with pop culture. Writing this post made me look back on my teenage years and reminded me that I was not alone growing up; I had records.
Music changes people. Art, in all its forms, changes people. I know for sure that it changed me, and I couldn’t be more grateful to these artists for making me feel seen and part of a community, because there is nothing a teenage girl wants more than feeling validated and understood.
See you at the next one!