The 2010s have seen a huge emergence of new music genres and further iterations of these genres, but one makes its place better than the rest. Characterized by simplistic production and songs detailing intimate and youthful experiences, bedroom pop continues to pave the way for independent artists all over the world. It has given ease to the individual production of music, pushing industry standards and boundaries out of sight.

Bedroom pop bridges a divide between artists and listeners and blurs the lines between creative control and controlled creativity. For anyone, the entry costs into making music are huge and therefore bottlenecks the emergence of new artists in many different genres. The beauty of bedroom pop is that it provides a new and inclusive medium for putting music into the world and further contributing to the genre itself. Music becomes synonymous with the identities of the artists themselves and therefore we can see people of all genders, sexualities and backgrounds finding success. Not only this, bedroom pop works in tandem with the trends of social media and is widely distributed because of this. This means that success of this music is not left to the constricting hands of record labels and contracts, but to the honest enjoyment of listeners everywhere.

I was fortunate enough to attend the Clairo concert at the Fillmore on February 19th, and her performance was truly a testament to the contributions that she has made to the genre. Her image and sound were wonderfully polished as she was accompanied by a well selected live band. Bedroom pop saw its genesis from the simple sounds of GarageBand synths and pre-synthesized drum loops, but this performance breathed new life into these early sounds. The use of more organic instruments like the flute and saxophone was an incredibly enjoyable iteration to her songs that we love and know so well. I particularly enjoyed her flutist/saxophonist who would occasionally break out in amazing solos which was equally as captivating as Clairo herself.

Something notable for me was Clairo’s receptiveness and overall attention to the crowd. During the show, there were two instances of audience members losing consciousness and she was quick to pick it out, even from onstage. I felt noticed and appreciated as someone who was attending the show, which is something I can’t say for the majority of the concerts I go to. The overall attentiveness by Clairo and her band was the perfect embodiment of what bedroom pop is about. It was really refreshing to see that this original spirit is still around since its conception years ago. Music belongs to the people just as much as it belongs to the artist, and bedroom pop is still out to prove that.