We at the Tapes would rather be the big brothers and sisters of music, turning you on to sugar-coated pop and kerosene-soaked drone noise alike. But sometimes it becomes necessary for us to be the bearer of somewhat bad news. It’s true; since 2019 is right around the corner, 1999 is now officially (gulp) 20 years ago.
Two decades ago, we were witnessing Keanu Reeves gliding in bullet time, watching some square cartoon character named SpongeBob on basic cable, and listening to a young, innocent singer named Britney Spears. If you could get a good enough connection on dialup, you could maybe frag a friend or two in Quake. It was a time when you’d still call your friends because T9 Word just took too damned long.
Charli XCX is reminiscing on those (simpler?) times too. Taking inspiration from Real McCoy, Aqua, Ace of Bass, and the Robin S. track with the unforgettable bloopy synthline, the popstar has emerged with a tongue-in-cheek portrait of 90s nostalgia with her latest, fittingly titled “1999.” The track is a collaboration with Troye Sivan, who contributes vox.
Timewarp below: