If in the near future we must have a revival of female-oriented pop, may we pass over the insulting misogynistic Fuller-esque schlock and instead see a return to laidback, cool, Lilith-Fair adjacent late 90s-00s style songwriter-chanteuse a la Badu, Cerys Matthews (Catatonia), Lauryn Hill, Alanis, Fiona, Tori, PJ, Mary J., Sinead, Beth Gibbons (Portishead), Cassandra Wilson, Sarah McLachlan, Lucinda Williams, Stacie Orrico, Michelle Branch, Gabrielle, Abra Moore, Jann Arden, Joan Osbourne, Meredith Brooks, Monica, Paula Cole, Shawn Colvin, Natasha Bedingfield, All Saints, The Corrs, Norah Jones, Katie Melua, Tegan & Sara, and even Dido?
Perhaps with the hibernation of lurid noisy bubblegum for 6-year olds and Frauen, we can once more enjoy a fecund era for female artists & singers who make lyrical, and interesting music for sophisticated adults, instead of vapid cartoon characters designed only to titillate and sell out. It’s time for the Katys of the world to just go back in the box for a while.
It’s only Robyn who is left from that period doing well with pop hits. Alicia is still trying it, to be fair, but it’s not really working. Aaliyah would probably be an enduring success today, had she lived.
