Chronicling The Successful New Age of Folk and Mall Rock

Thanks to the Grammys, Spotify, and the Billboard charts, two relevant genres of rock music have experienced a changing of guard that is resonating with the current generation of music listeners in the 2020s.

BY HARPSICHORD

FEBRUARY 4, 2024

Noah Kahan poses in the woods for his viral single, “Stick Season”

t the 2021 Grammys, it came as a bit of a shock when Taylor Swift’s name was announced as the winner for Album of the Year. The award marked her third in the category– tying the likes of other legendary artists such as Frank Sinatra and Stevie

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Wonder for the most. As she made her acceptance speech– being recognized for the brilliance of Folklore – Swift thanked her team on stage, and of course, the Recording Academy. “We’ll never forget that you did this for us.”

But the words, “for us,” had a double meaning. Taylor Swift– who has, in recent years, risen to the ranks of being the de facto Queen of New Americana culture– seemed to be alluding to the popularity of music that had been hushed and not so common. Prior to the release of Folklore , folk music itself remained subdued in mainstream music. The album marked a shift– as it found the singer scouring through her personal thoughts and romantic failures during the COVID-19 lockdowns. By the time she won the trophy, she secured two No. 1 albums in 2020: Folklore and Evermore , which contained progressive folk No. 1 singles “Cardigan” and “Willow” respectively.

Taylor Swift holding her Grammy for Album of the Year.

One of the fan favorites from Folklore , “Exhile,” featured the indie folk band from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, named Bon Iver. During her Grammys speech, Taylor Swift thanked the lead singer, Justin Vernon– noting to the audience that she had yet to meet him. Alongside his band, Vernon shocked viewers of the 2012 Grammys when he won Best New Artist– beating the likes of rap royalty, J. Cole and Nicki Minaj. Their self-titled debut received critical acclaim, with the single “Holocene” being regarded as one of the best releases in 2011. The group also captured another Grammy win in the Best Alternative Album category.

While critics continued to praise the band for their engineering of baroque synths on albums, 22, A Million and the Album of the Year nominated I, I (from 2016 and 2019 respectively), their sound never managed to break into the mainstream consciousness of the everyday listener. It wasn’t until Folklore where “Exhile” became only their second Billboard Hot 100 entry (at No. 6), a decade after their first (Kanye West’s “Monster” which had no traceable evidence to folk).

In between that gap, the only folk act to receive any type of top honors happened to be the British band Mumford & Sons in 2013. Their album, Babel surprised viewers by winning Album of the Year at the Grammys. Much of Babel ’s success came because of the rousing “I Will Wait” which powered through bluegrass banjos and a folksy foot stompin’ bass. “I Will Wait” reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, while topping Adult Top 40 and Rock Airplay charts.

A year after Folklore won Album of the Year, Taylor Swift seemed to have abandoned the folk sound that rebranded her standing in the mainstream. Instead, she would explore how pure pop and country garnered her popularity. One of her music pupils, Olivia Rodrigo burst onto the scene with “Driver’s License,” a bedroom pop number that instantly debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100. The teen sensation tugged at the heart strings of listeners– following after the footsteps of Billie Eilish– in announcing that Gen Z artists were the new guard. As Swift would be nominated for Album of the Year in 2022 for Evermore so was Rodrigo’s SOUR .

Interestingly enough, SOUR included a second single entitled “Deja Vu” – a revenge anthem of envy that namedrops Billy Joel– had to include Taylor Swift as a songwriter, as the courts ruled melodies sounded too similar to “Cruel Summer.” Nothing about any of those three songs gave folk, but rather pushed the agenda of power pop. However what “Deja Vu” foreshadowed was an upcoming resurgence of mall rock, thanks to its intense guitar work before the song’s second verse. SOUR earned its second No. 1 single, “Good 4 U,” which was bolstered by mash-ups of 2007’s “Misery Business” by Paramore. Paramore would receive late added credits to “Good 4 U.”

The executive producer of SOUR , Dan Nigro is single-handedly responsible for how mall rock made its way back to the center of the mainstream. In 2013, he helped produce Sky Ferreira’s only studio album to date, Night Time, My Time . Singing about the ups and downs of falling in love with “Boys,” Sky Ferreira pushes through a nostalgic sound that recalls John Hughes-soundtracking rock music and the heydays of teens crowding in malls to see power rockers. In ways, Night Time, My Time gave an early inkling of the success Rodrigo would receive years later.

Olivia Rodrigo performing “Get Him Back” at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards.

Olivia Rodrigo became an unexpected face of rock music, and a breath of fresh air for the critics that missed the sound. Albeit it was done through the lens of the youth– making the sound sort of hard to fathom for the Gen X who had witnessed its rise on channels such as MTV. While she rose up the ranks, Texas native, GAYLE scored her own Top 3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “ABCDEFU,” an angsty break-up song that existed in the same vein as “Good 4 U.” GAYLE earned a slew of Best New Artist nominations at award shows such as the American Music Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards. “ABCDEFU” earned a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year.

But Olivia Rodrigo’s success against GAYLE’s remains unparalleled at the time. While “ABCDEFU” finds GAYLE in the one-hit wonder lane as for now, Rodrigo’s three back-to-back hits has her occupying the spaces that Avril Lavigne and Hayley Williams of Paramore once found themselves. As Paramore were making their comebacks via social media, rock legends such as Alanis Morissette embraced Rodrigo. Both ladies appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine’s annual ‘Musicians on Musicians’ cover in October 2021.

When it was time for Olivia Rodrigo to release her 2023 follow up, GUTS, she starred in a music video for “Get Him Back!” The imagery witnesses her with doppelgangers parading around town singing to each other– a subtle nod to what Alanis Morissette did in 1995’s “Ironic.” As Rodrigo performed the song at the 2023 VMAs, her choreography and costume resembled the aesthetic of school girl cheerleaders– a common trope to the high school aspects that pertain to mall rock culture.

At the 2024 Grammys, GUTS is nominated for Album of the Year– a marker to Olivia Rodrigo’s staying power. But so is Midnights by Taylor Swift– which contains no elements of folk or mall rock– but rather opts for bedroom pop and dream pop (both genres that are also making their own mainstream resurgences). They’re both up against Lana Del Rey in multiple categories, including Album of the Year. Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd from Del Rey (who is the original queen of New Americana Pop), is propelled by the critical success of “A&W” – a euphemistic initialism for “American Whore” that modernizes folk in the song’s beginning half. It’s nominated for Song of the Year.

A&W Is One of the 64 songs that appears in the inaugural issue of harpsichord zine

Oddly enough, another Album of the Year nominee that combines this new age of progressive folk– while rekindling the spirit of mall rock– comes from the all female led trio, Boygenius. Consisting of Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus, and Phoebe Bridgers, Boygenius offers The Record , an universally acclaimed project that utilizes both genres to explore the depths of unconditional love. From “Emily, I’m Sorry” to “Satanist” the tracklist models the future of where both genres are heading. During other songs, they recall the music that started the evolution of Lilith Fair– a festival tour that promoted all women headliners in the late ‘90s, who answered back to executives who believed their style of rock did not have selling power. By the time of this article being published, one of those four aforementioned albums might be the winner.

Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus performing as Boygenius.

The Grammys are usually regarded as the final judgment of the best of every music year. As they conclude, the music clock continues to run. Currently on Spotify there are rock records making dents on both the Billboard charts as well as Spotify. Vermont-based singer Noah Kahan has the globe abuzz with the sleeper-hit success of “Stick Season,” which sticks to traditional folk music. After going viral on TikTok, the song has reached No. 1 in Australia, Belgium, and the UK. It currently stands at No. 2 on the US Rock Songs chart– with no signs of slowing down for an eventual No. 1 peak. Underneath “Stick Season” is Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine,” which combines folk, country, and sophiti-pop– becoming the indie folk artist’s biggest hit to date, after years of occupying the Pitchfork Magazine circuit. While Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” also signal that folk rock will have a fruitful 2024.