Is this playlist for me?
You might like this playlist if you’re drawn to:
- Maximalist pop music. These songs feature elaborate arrangements and opulent production that create a sense of massive scale.
- Music that evokes the distinct feeling quality of being in a vast public space like a cathedral, airport or shopping mall. This is music that makes you feel tiny.
- The aesthetic quality of the sublime, “of greatness or grandeur that inspires awe and wonder.”
If I were just going to listen to one song, which should I pick?
Notice what you experience when you reach the chorus of Timeline by Kylie Muse. The playlist exists to capture whatever that quality is. It’s like something vast is suddenly there with you. And then it lumbers away as the chorus fades out, the ground shaking with each step. With good headphones the experience is wondrous, and even a bit unsettling.
What genres are represented in this playlist?
Pop, indie pop, electropop, a little bit of country pop.
What should I listen for?
The bigness in these songs is a subtle quality. It’s not just about the presence of musical elements like reverb or choral arrangements (which are certainly present), it’s about the overarching quality that those elements instantiate; the whole that comes through in those parts.
Here’s an exercise that may help with feeling into the essence of this playlist: “Close your eyes and imagine this song is a human-like figure. How big are they?” When I approach the songs through this frame, it helps me contact the sense of vastness they express.
If I like this playlist, what other ones should I check out?
Ascent shares a similar sense of scale. Both playlists have a “vertical” quality, as if you need to look up in order to fully take the songs in. There’s a little more contrast over the course of the song in Ascent, as some of those songs start small and get big. In Mega, the songs are big from the get-go.
Because the songs in Audacious involve an unfolding and “coming toward you” aspect, they also have a larger-than-life quality like the songs in this playlist. The best songs in both playlists feel almost overwhelming in their vastness–as if they are on the verge of being “too much.” The songs defy containment. This adds the subtlest touch of uneasiness to the pop, which to me at least, is exquisite.
This playlist also shares qualities with Snap. In that playlist you yourself feel larger than life, whereas in Mega, it’s more like you’re in the presence of something imposing. Snap is also a little faster paced overall, whereas some of the songs in Mega have a slower quality (which contributes to the impression of their vast size).
Last Updated on December 23, 2024
