Let's talk about retro songs from this century

Cafe Society
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There’s another thread about music being identified with decades, and that led me to think about the topic of musicians making songs that are intended to sound as if they are from an earlier time. What pop songs from this century fall into that category? Let’s limit it to music from 2000 to the present day that is similar to music from 1995 and earlier, so as to avoid the obvious of 2000 being similar to 1999. These should also be original works, not covers.

The one that immediately comes to mind is Get Lucky, which reminds me of the disco era of the 70s.

What other ones can you all think of? Bonus points if the song in question is a throwback to the late 1980s, especially the style of music that was produced by Stock / Aitken / Waterman for the likes of Rick Astley, Kylie Minogue, Samantha Fox, and Jason Donovan. Yes, that style happens to be one of my favorites but sadly lasted only from 1987-1989.

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That’s rather obvious, as Nile Rodgers is involved who wrote, produced and played some of the best and best-selling music of the Disco era.

A few songs that came to mind:

Nathan Evans - Wellerman. A shanty.

Mumford And Sons - The Cave. Late 60s/early 70s folk rock.

Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar. Classic soul.

ETA:

Oh, and everything by Greta Van Vleet. Basically Led Zep 2.0:

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My go-to answer on this is Pickin’ Up the Pieces, a 2010 album by Fitz and the Tantrums. The sound has been referred to as “neo-soul,” and has a very 1960s Motown feel to it.

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Fleet Foxes first formed in 2006 but they had a very ethereal 60s folk sound for pretty much all of their music. Here’s a video of one of their most well-known songs, complete with 60s Rankin-Bass style animation:

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Great example. I’ve always thought that that song, in particular, had a Phil Spector “Wall of Sound” feel to it.

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Too late to edit:

A rather obscure one. There’s a young German band called Camera making music in the tradition of 70s kraut rock, in the vein of Neu! and Kraftwerk.

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It also reminds me of the Beach Boys, their folkier songs like Sloop John B.

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Amy Winehouse definitely sounded like an R&B diva from another era (at least, until you paid closer attention to the lyrics). I bet a lot of people who heard her on the radio for the first time thought “do I have an oldies station on?”

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Truth. “Get Lucky” and “Lose Yourself to Dance” both sound like they could have been Chic songs, and with good reason. :smiley:

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I was just about to bring “Rehab” up a few minutes ago before getting distracted by another thread and make the point that when I first heard “Rehab”, I thought it was an old R&B number that I had somehow missed. Until, just as you said, I listened closely to the lyrics and thought, “huh, the lyrics seem somewhat anachronous to the era.”

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All the following songs were released by major artists in the 2020s :

Without knowing, who could tell they were NOT written 40 years ago.

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I read that Brittney Spears is going to release a cover of Tiny Dancer. But I don’t think a cover should count. However Brunos Mars Anderson.Paak should. This is so Philly soul it’s silly (but not silly soul)

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This song by Jeff Lynne’s ELO, from 2015, “I’m Leaving You,” was written by Lynne as a tribute to his friend, Roy Orbison, and intentionally sounds like it could have been an Orbison song from the early 1960s.

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Lots of Bruno Mars songs qualify. The trend started about 10 years ago with “Uptown Funk,” a disco/funk tune. He followed up with another disco-style song “24K Magic,” a New Jack Swing-style song “Finesse”, and several others.

Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats have a lot of songs that sound like 60s-style R&B (e.g., “I Need Never Get Old” and “Love Don’t.”

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I know of a few singles that sound basically like classics from yesteryear, but were just produced with that aesthetic in mind, like Latasha Lee’s cover version of “Pledging My Love” or JD McPherson’s “North Side Gal.”

There’s an Aussie singer I love named Alex Lahey, who busts out an alto sax in her songs once and a while. Though her songs are very contemporary hard-driving singer-songwriter stuff, the minute the sax kicks in, it’s like being transported back to the 80s (if you get a chance to see her live, Lahey puts on a fantastic show)…

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The female group The Pipettes were great, esp. their first album released in 2006. Most of those songs are really nice '60s throwbacks. But my favorite song of theirs is The Burning Ambition (Of Early Diuretics).

I’m not sure others would agree with me but Six Pack by JEFF the Brotherhood from 2012 has an nice '60s/'90s mashup sound.

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Lizzo - Juice

Tame Impala - Elephant

Portugal. The Man - Feel it Still

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Wet Leg is a recently thawed 1990’s progressive band. They could have headlined Lollapalooza had they not been trapped in that glacier. They haven’t released a bad track and I can’t wait for their followup album.

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Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings built a whole career out of songs that are both meticulously faithful to '60s R&B and super fun to listen to. I have a couple of their albums, and they are consistently good – no filler!

The Dap-Kings were borrowed by Amy Winehouse for “Back to Black.”

“100 Days, 100 Nights” was released in 2006 (with this ultra-retro video)…

The even better “I Learned the Hard Way” came out in 2010.

Great recommendation – thanks!