Halloween Year-Round: The Rise of the Emo Pop Aesthetic

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As a genre, pop experienced a fallout, becoming stigmatized as indie and alt culture gained popularity over the past few years. Additionally, the Hot Topic-esque scene phase brought on by punk music has also seen a considerable decline since pop’s stigmatization. However, with the revival of the 2000s and Y2k style, pop has seen an influx of listeners and new artists. 

Image Courtesy: Strike Tallahassee

With this, it seems that the goth and emo aesthetic has also rebranded to become marketable within the pop industry. Aesthetically, emo is being seen as a lure for many indie-pop artists. The edgy pop movement was pioneered by Billie Eilish through her somber anthems of teenage angst, with album covers evocative of horror and gore. Eilish has since rebranded to a softer, more neutral style, giving rise to another big-name artist who took over this look—Phoebe Bridgers. Her signature skeleton costume represents her haunting ballads, enhancing her brand and her overall performance as an artist.  

Image Courtesy: GQ

Another example of an artist who finds themselves in this subset is Julia Wolf. Evident in her discography with songs like Villain, Girls in Purgatory, and R.I.P to the Club, and represented visually through the promotion of her music, Julia Wolf brands herself through the horror motif. Enamored by the world of Twilight, vampires, and witchy folklore, she incorporates the typical visuals of an emo band with the sound of her indie-pop. 

Wolf shares, “I grew up in a household where Halloween came second to Christmas, and Jack Skellington was my first crush. Since I was little, I was always intrigued by the eerie things that people turned away from. My 6th-grade birthday party was a viewing of the Blair Witch Project to set the scene for you. Now, as an artist making music, creating a world to represent it visually has become extremely important; I always find myself picking the gory side of things. Growing up a shy kid, and really keeping to myself, I found comfort in the ways people could make the dark look so enchanting. It is a reflection of my fiercer alter ego that sometimes is too afraid to make herself known verbally, but she exists, and so, can be seen through the fashion and visual world instead.”

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Her skeleton tattoos and emergence into the world of horror add to the energy she emits as an artist. 

Similarly, another up-and-coming artist who contributes to the emo-pop world is Mothica. Raking in about two million monthly streamers on Spotify, her top song, buzzkill is an emo-pop anthem that has received over 25,000,000 streams. Pairing with her sound, her dark color pallets and tattoos are making pop cool again. 

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Overall, if you are someone who finds themselves reminiscing the days of emo Tumblr and the gothic aesthetic, you will find a comforting nostalgia in the Halloween-esque theme the pop industry is veering towards. 

Strike out, 

Writer: Alyson Brinkley

Editor: Noelle Knowlton

Graphic Designer: Luis Arriaga

Tallahassee