Draft:Bedroom pop

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Bedroom pop
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsEarly 2010s, United States
Fusion genres
Bedroom Screamo[1]
Other topics

Bedroom pop is a microgenre of indie pop and lo-fi music that emerged in the early to late 2010s, defined by an online-based approach to self-made music and solo home recording. The genre gained wider popularity online through platforms like YouTube and TikTok, with artists mainly releasing their music through online streaming platforms such as Spotify, Bandcamp and SoundCloud.

Notable acts include Clairo, Beabadoobee, Her's, Men I Trust, Strawberry Guy, Rex Orange County and Boy Pablo.

Characteristics

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History

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1960s–1990s: Forerunners

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See also: Home recording

During the 1960s and 1970s, artists such as Hasil Adkins, Joe Meek, Pete Townshend, Frank Zappa, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sly and the Family Stone and R. Stevie Moore became early pioneers of home recording.[2]

The Beach Boys' Smiley Smile and Wild Honey, alongside the work of Brian Wilson, were later described as pioneering "bedroom pop".[3][4] The Velvet Underground's 1969 self-titled album which became a foundational influence on the development of indie and alternative rock, with Lou Reed's own original mix dubbed the "closet mix" later being accredited with presaging bedroom pop.[5][6]

Paul McCartney's McCartney and Ram

R. Stevie Moore[2]

Tall Dwarfs

Cleaners from Venus

Beat Happening

By the 1980s, the early work of Daniel Johnston which made use of cassette tape recording at home, led him to be retroactively labelled the "Godfather of Bedroom Pop" by Pitchfork. [7] In 1986, American musician Prince, constructed a private home recording studio known as Paisley Park.[2]

Ariel Pink

2000s–2010s: Origins

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Mac DeMarco [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

Clairo[18][16][19] Her's Men I Trust, Strawberry Guy, Rex Orange County Boy Pablo TV Girl LUCY (Cooper B. Handy)

2020s

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In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the further proliferation of bedroom pop artists. Beabadoobee[20]

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Decline and legacy

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Softer Side of Skramz: Bedroom Pop and Screamo Collide". Bandcamp Daily. 2022-02-18. Retrieved 2025-07-27.
  2. ^ a b c Wray, Daniel Dylan (2020-05-12). "'My studio is an extra limb right now': bedroom pop, the perfect genre for lockdown". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-07-28.
  3. ^ Sacher, Andrew. "Thank you, Brian Wilson". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  4. ^ "BBC Radio 2 - Sounds of the 60s with Tony Blackburn - The Beach Boys and Friends: Their Forgotten Gem". BBC. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  5. ^ Grow, Kory (2014-11-24). "Velvet Underground Reflect on Most Profound LP". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  6. ^ Berman, Stuart. "The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground – 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  7. ^ Minsker, Evan (2019-09-12). "Remembering Daniel Johnston, the Godfather of Bedroom Pop". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
  8. ^ "Bedroom Pop: How TikTok Continues To Fuel The Music Scene". www.thegazelle.org. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
  9. ^ Taroy, Aldrin (February 5, 2011). "Call & Response: Foxes In Fiction". BlogTo.
  10. ^ LaGorce, Tammy (May 21, 2006). "In Their Rooms, Shrinking Violets Sing". The New York Times.
  11. ^ "Don't Call it Bedroom Pop: The New Wave of DIY". Complex. April 17, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  12. ^ Williams, Jenessa (June 12, 2020). "What even is Bedroom Pop, and why is now the time to care?". The Forty-Five.
  13. ^ "How bedroom pop became the dominant sound of Gen-Y angst". The Independent. 2019-12-02. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
  14. ^ Petridis, Alexis (2019-03-29). "'Be urself': meet the teens creating a generation gap in music". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
  15. ^ Kalia, Ammar (2022-03-13). "Rex Orange County: Who Cares? review – sweet, unremarkable bedroom pop". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
  16. ^ a b Battan, Carrie (2019-08-12). "Clairo and the Fuzzy, D.I.Y. Sounds of Bedroom Pop". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
  17. ^ Pitchfork (2019-10-08). "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  18. ^ Hawthorne, Katie (2024-07-12). "Clairo: Charm review – deeply human songs of desire and distance". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
  19. ^ Battan, Carrie (2021-08-02). "Clairo Recovers from Viral Fame". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
  20. ^ Beaumont, Mark (2020-10-19). "Beabadoobee's success is a sign that the bedroom pop revolution is in full swing". NME. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
  21. ^ Madden, Emma (2022-08-15). "Riding Roller Coasters With PinkPantheress, Bedroom-Pop It Girl". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2025-08-25.