News about Tavi Gevinson

Welcome to New Retro Week, a celebration of pop's greatest artists, hits, and cultural moments from 2013. MTV News is looking forward to see what lies ahead: These essays explore how today's blueprint was created a decade ago. We've stepped into our time machine. Lorde's breakout success is based on a thud. Critics blasted the finger snaps that followed the course of "Royals," the intricate crackle over skittering instrumental, but it's the downbeat that propels the ship, an insistent, deadening thwack. The track remains anchored in your headphones. It demands your attention. More than any other song that shimmied its way to the top of pop radio in the 2010s, "Royals" bludgeons you. When the song debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013, it dethroned "Wrecking Ball" for the first time, when Miley Cyrus churned out elegies to swanky, sweat-sheened parties, and winks at dancing with molly. Ke$ha, the actress, drowned herself in glitter and sang of dying young. Fun, the once-ubiquitous band featuring Lorde's future producer Jack Antonoff howled at anthems — Toni-i-ight, we are young. Lorde, who knew that those who were actually mired in youth don't walk around announcing it, and also scowl at the neon baubles of American excess, appeared to beam in from New Zealand and scowl at the neon baubles of American excess.