Bedroom Pop

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Umbrella Genre: Pop

Stylistic Origins: Lo-Fi, Dream Pop, Folk, Quiet Storm

Date and Location of Development: 1993 in the basement of Elliott Smith in Portland, Oregon, United States

The Beach Boys released their 1967 album, Smiley Smile on September 11. The album– which featured their hit single, “Good Vibrations,” has been credited by ‘Pitchfork’ as being a forefather for the sound of bedroom pop and home recorded lo-fi. With aspects of minimalism and ambient, the project is recognized for introducing the sound to the recording industry at large.

In 1993, indie folk and pop singer Elliott Smith recorded his album, Roman Candle , to completion in the basement of his Oregon home. Consisting of folk sounds that featured his drawn out vocals and lyrics about hallucinating, the album featured a raw sound that gave autobiographical anecdotes about his struggles with identity and his past. The point of bedroom pop was to reinvent the logistics of home studio recording, but with minimalistic usage of professional equipment– opting for a more DIY approach with easy to use recording tools.

In the ‘90s, the sound became prevalent in the mainstream, with the likes of Beck and Alanis Morisette utilizing the techniques. Morisette ended up recording her 1995 commercial opus, Jagged Little Pill in the home studio of Glen Ballard. Her LP ended up winning ‘Best Rock Album’ and ‘Album of the Year’ at the 1996 Grammys. Songs like “Mary Jane” combined sleepy, dreamy melodies with the trepidation of pop rock.

Elliott Smith playing his guitar in a bedroom.

As recording in home studios became more normalized, the traditional origins of bedroom pop started to fade away. Technically most home recordings could be considered “bedroom pop,” but speaking in terms of genre characteristics, the sound needs to be hallucinogenic and lo-fi. In the 21st century, the term started to become more defined as an actual genre. In 2006, for ‘The New York Times,’ writer Tammy LaGorce noted that bedroom pop is “bloglike music.” By this time, the Baltimore experimental folk band, Animal Collective, were prominent in diving into this sound.

In the 2010s and the 2020s, bedroom pop started to be recognized as music that specifically discussed the notions of love and sex. Essentially dream pop that is masked by the rawness of perfected fuzziness. No longer did these songs need to be recorded in a bedroom, or basement– albeit that amplified the overall aesthetic– but as long as they matched that quality through synths and laptop software.

Acts such as Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift are considered bedroom pop artists of today. Billie Eilish has gone on to win ‘Record’ and ‘Song of the Year’ at the 2020 Grammys for “Bad Guy”. Taylor Swift’s 2022 Midnights album flirts with the sound. Outside of mainstream artists, acts such as Clairo, Arlo Parks, and mxmtoon would be classified as prominent examples of the genre. In 2014, beabadoobee was nominated for ‘Best Original Song’ at the 86th Academy Awards– as the song appeared in the film, ‘Her.’