I’m a voracious music history and biography reader, so I’ve observed that certain patterns pop up in music history to where you can almost predict sea changes in sound. The dry, soft rock/prog rock of the ’70s gave way to punk; overproduced hair metal gave way to grunge; MC Hammer-style rap crumbled under the gangsta rap of the ’90s; and a myriad of vocal trends, when played out, are soon overtaken by that exact opposite of the popular on a loop throughout pop history. Lately I was wondering when all the male/female duets that came to prominence from the late ’70s through the ’90s faded out of pop, soul, and even country, and gave way to the guest MC (think every Mariah or J-Lo single of the past 20 years or how Iggy Azalea pays the bills) or the female-only duet.
While girl-on-girl vocals are nothing new (Reba vs Linda Davis, Madonna vs Britney, Gaga vs Beyoncé) it seems like lately the only way to get a top ten hit is to pile one, two or three lady vocalists or emcees on top of each other. Looking at current hits like “Bang Bang,” “Fancy,” “Black Widow,” “***flawless,” and “Call My Name” (all of which feature any variation Rita-Ariana-Iggy-Nicki-Cheryl-Jessie-Beyoncé), I’m getting the feeling that this trend will need to crash soon, not just due to oversaturation, but also simply because they are all starting to blend.
Then, like a breath of fresh air through a Spring window comes a possible savior, P!nk. You+Me, her new collaboration with City and Colour singer Dallas Green, hit my desktop last night and it’s like she said, “If I put out a pure pop rock CD now, I’m no better than these ladies I’ve broken the ceiling for.”
You+Me goes 180 degrees from the current pop trends and pairs P!nk’s restrained, softer side with the counterpoint of Dallas’ equally pleasant but anchored harmony. To hear a man and a woman singing simple acoustic arrangements together (a bit similar to her duet with Nate Ruess last year), sounding more like ’70s era Heart or ’90s MTV Unplugged at its Alice In Chains/Nirvana best, sounds like they just stepped off a time machine from 20 years back, in a good way. Their album, Rose Ave., is the most refreshingly original CD to hit my ears since Beyoncé’s or Adele’s last release. It’s the type of album you drink in, then hit repeat, not skipping one track and retaining it all. The music equivalent of picking up a Cosmopolitan at the end of the Sex and the City movie and wondering, “Why did we ever stop drinking these?”. Drink up, kids. Hopefully we’re in for many new rounds of a new phase in pop.