poptimism's return

this thread about olivia dean was a refreshing throwback to ilx of yore:

olivia dean "man i need" classic or dud

I think there have been quite a few good pop hits the past couple years, but I think there's also less of a sense of those songs being quite as culturally-saturating then a decade-plus ago. But that might also be that we're all older, LOL, or most likely, a combination of the two.

What I'm interested in is our fav Actually-Popular songs of the last year or two (meaning if it never touched Billboard GTFO). The idea is to pick the stuff that actually feels kind of musically compelling and also had some widespread success or sense of zeitgeist. I'm also less interested in New Jersey-type singles by uber-recognizeable tier one celeb artists unless the ilxor thinks its an especially noteworthy single w/in the artist's overall body of work ....

for my part, the first song that came to mind for me was Sombr's "12 to 12"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZgUiR31m-Y

here's Trevor Horn playing it on bass: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DUtI4ogiPS-/

you will have to copy and paste that instagram URL for trevor horn due to some weird url thing ILX defaults to

poptimism's return - which i pine for - would constitute a return to ewingist principles, namely, everything (within reason) is pop, everything is heard without prejudice, all musical points of view considered

what isn't poptimism is what you seem to think it is - namely, 'meaning if it never touched Billboard GTFO'

there are numerous incredible pop songs of the last few years that have barely got a mention on ILX, those would be prime candidates for a thread like this, instead we have American chauvinism as usual

have your thread idc

I love the success of "Choosin' Texas" and "Folded."

Folded is an incredible single because it's such a fully-inhabited performance as much as it is a well-written well-produced piece of music

A song that has a lot of impact with kids my son's age is that #6 hit by Djo-- "The End of the Beginning." Not sure it's been mentioned around here (expect maybe in relation to Stranger Things.)

poptimism's return - which i pine for - would constitute a return to ewingist principles, namely, everything (within reason) is pop, everything is heard without prejudice, all musical points of view considered

what isn't poptimism is what you seem to think it is - namely, 'meaning if it never touched Billboard GTFO'

there are numerous incredible pop songs of the last few years that have barely got a mention on ILX, those would be prime candidates for a thread like this, instead we have American chauvinism as usual

have your thread idc

― imago, Tuesday, April 14, 2026 11:48 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

you don't 'get it'. this thread is for actually-popular songs that are good. if you want to see infinite length lists of non-scaled music you can go literally anywhere else on the internet that isn't run by Stans. This is for neither -- the 'missing piece' of contemporary poptimism is not 'liking unpopular things'

"Folded" is def my fav song from last year.

"End of the Beginning" is so funny to me, I feel like that's been huge for like 2 years...it sounds like the most gentrified parts of Chicago to me so I struggle with it a bit. I'm sure it will be iconic nostalgia for future generations, but something about it feels deeply Millennial Cringe to me, like 2009 indie aesthetic scaled

I'm also fond of Pooh Shiesty's "FDO" and "Where is My Husband?!"

the way you phrased that is funny, like Pooh Shiesty had a song called "where is my husband"

Where is my Husband's beyonce-isms were a bit offputting to me but I only heard it once or twice