Baroque Pop

Ah, Baroque Pop, the musical genre that dares to wear a powdered wig, sip a spot of Earl Grey, and strut about as if it owns the place. Emerging in the 1960s, Baroque Pop married the rich, ornate musicality of the Baroque period, think harpsichords and strings, with the catchy hooks and lyrical wit of pop music. It's the sort of union that begs the question: who wouldn’t want to hear a flute and a Moog synthesiser arguing over the top of a catchy refrain?

Artists like The Beach Boys and The Beatles dipped their toes into this lush genre, with albums such as ‘Pet Sounds’ and ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’ serving as unmistakable showcases of fabulous orchestration mingling with cheeky wordplay. The movement found itself swirling during the Summer of Love yet was decidedly more complex than mere feel-good tunes about flower power.

It explored deeper themes, using lush instrumentation to evoke emotion and drama; whether one was serenading a lost love or lamenting the state of the world, Baroque Pop made sure you knew it was doing so with more style than your average three-chord ballad. Fast forward to the 2000s, when the genre saw a resurgence, as artists like Sufjan Stevens and Regina Spektor drew upon its lavishness to create sounds for a new generation, proving that there is plenty of room for the ornate in our somewhat dull and dreary lives. Today, Baroque Pop stands as a testament to the belief that, sometimes, more really is more, and that a dash of violins can make even the daftest pop tune sound like Shakespearean poetry.