For artists, looking back in time for ideas is commonplace, but there's an overwhelming sense of '70s and '80s nostalgia in California musician Ariel Pink's music. It's impossible to separate "Round and Round" from the anachronism, and there's no loving one without loving the other.
"Round and Round" seems to have been written between deep listens to The Thompson Twins and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. An eerily quiet groove, loaded with murmured vocals, gives way to bright electric piano. The music eventually swells into one of the best hooks Ariel Pink has ever written for Haunted Graffiti; it’s a chorus that evokes all the imagery a song needs to be shamelessly catchy: holding on, calling back, and even dancing. The musical era depicted in "Round and Round" may not be pop's brightest moment, but rather than abandon its ideas, Ariel Pink reclaims them for himself and holds on tight.
Listen to yesterday's Song of the Day, and subscribe to the Song of the Day newsletter.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.