Britpop

When A. G. Cook announced the closing of his beloved PC Music label in 2023—a project synonymous with the giddy, synthetic sound sometimes known as hyperpop—it was the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Like his 2020 debut <i>7G</i>, 2024’s <i>Britpop</i> has the rangy feel of an artist good at writing songs (the warped doo-wop of “Greatly”; the gorgeous, melancholic “Serenade”) but even better at expressing atmospheres and ideas, whether it’s contrasting the gabber thump of “Out of Time” with sparkling ambience or how “Luddite Factory Operator” turns its chilly glitches into something you could take home to mom and dad. His central argument—that pop can be weird and still be pop—has been proven by clients and collaborators from Charli XCX to Beyoncé, but if you want to drink from the source, it’s here.