Miley, Taylor, Dua, And More Proved 2020's Pop Nostalgia Machine Is Potent As Ever

By Katiee McKinstry


With the release of her latest album, Plastic Hearts, in late November, Miley Cyrus totally reinvented herself as a glam-rock icon, diving into the past as she cleared a path forward in the pop-rock sphere. Expertly wielding the collective power of nostalgia to appeal to even the most casual of listeners — its final tracks include a reworked version of standout single “Midnight Sky” featuring Stevie Nicks and covers of the classics “Zombie” and “Heart of Glass” — Cyrus also mined key moments from her own career to generative new results. And this year, she was not alone.


Prior to the drop of Plastic Hearts, Cyrus reported the launch of MileySpace, essentially a updated version of what her MySpace page would look like in 2020, hosted on her own website. Cyrus relaunched her website to draw attention to the drop of Plastic Hearts, in a MySpace format featuring album art, links to music videos, and album related merch. Yet ardent fans of the pop star may recognize that MileySpace is more than a savvy marketing ploy; rather, it’s a clever easter egg harkening back to a fans-only experience Cyrus culminated at the end of the 2000s.


In 2009, at the height of her Hannah Montana stardom, Cyrus was starting to break out as a solo artist, as well, with “7 Things.” While in her Wonder World Tour, she unveiled her official fan club, MileyWorld. For $30 each year, fans had full access to behind-the-scenes content and exclusive (and heavily moderated) chat rooms where Cyrus would pop in from time to time to mention hello. Every club member would receive a ID card, which featured a toothy headshot of Cyrus as a kid, one of countless elements from MileyWorld Cyrus evoked in the leadup to the launch of Plastic Hearts. There was also the slogan of the MileySpace relaunch, “a place for Miley’s friends,” referencing how MileyWorld once was. Likewise, Cyrus played on the nostalgia of old school MySpace, changing the mouse image once users scroll, adding music to her “profile,” and loading her “friends list” with collaborators on Plastic Hearts. Well played.


Just as MileyWorld functioned as a promotional avenue for album releases and tours with a quintessentially insider feel — fans would get beyond the scenes content from Cyrus’s life, be the opening to hear about new album drops and concert promos, one of these pretty MileyWorld ID cards, and an in general intimate feel of being Cyrus’s BFF — so, also, is MileySpace. As a Cyrus fan back in the early 2000s, it was so fun have the ability to connect with her in a more intimate way through MileyWorld. To be able to see her resurface elements from our childhood brings back warm memories: the glow of the computer screen, as an example, as Cyrus responded in a chat room to my question, “What is it like to be a blonde?” (It was “definitely a different experience,” she wrote.)


Equally, countless other pop artists plunged into their own archives in 2020 for some artsy archeology. Taylor Swift, Gwen Stefani, Aly & AJ, and Dua Lipa have all dipped into the past (both their personalized histories and the shared recollections of pop culture) in their recent respective works, using elements that tug on fans’ heart strings and reward their patience and devotion.


Taylor Swift, in particular, is known for laying out fan-centric clues and Easter eggs while in her musical and visual work. Her summer surprise album, July’s Folklore and its December sister record Evermore, were littered with self-referential nods. Folklore played on nostalgic elements in its presentation, featuring a stripped-down folk sound harkening back to her earliest nation hits, however while in each song on the album, Swift examines her career in a new light. She finally delves into her relationships and why she used those relationships to shape her music career.


Thus, Swift goes backwards and inwards with Folklore, making fans jump right in as their nostalgia runs high. By releasing Evermore, Swift further utilizes the nostalgia marketing, continuing the introspective look at her career and relationships her fans so closely have followed over the years.


Fans of a certain age probably danced around their bedrooms screaming lyrics from No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” or “Don’t Speak” as teens. In December, Gwen Stefani released her new single, “Let Me Reintroduce Myself,” which plays heavily on themes from her previous records solo and with the musical group. She adds callback elements of ska and also a line about “bananas” while in the song, referencing her 2004 smash “Hollaback Girl.”


Speaking of reintroducing yourself, pop sister duo Aly & AJ have done the same, re-releasing their most popular hit, “Potential Breakup Song,” with a twist. In 2007, the single by the then-teens was a large pop-rock call-out, although its anger was kept kid-friendly. With this new release, Aly & AJ have reinvented the song, making it uncensored with f-bombs and contemporary production, capitalizing on its potency soon following the song seen a resurgence this year thanks to TikTok.


Nostalgia as a marketing tool isn't a new concept, and case in point, Dua Lipa wove it into the very fabric of her latest album itself.  This year’s Future Nostalgia noticed the pop star immersed in ‘80s dance vibes glossed with a more modern feel. “I wanted to prepare ensure that every song touched on both the future characteristic and the nostalgic characteristic, to somehow bring something fresh and new to the table, yet also something that reminds you of a time,” Lipa told Variety. “In terms of the future, it really is a production, and the lyrics about what’s currently going on in my life. Yet some of the sonics in back of it have that nostalgic reminiscence.”


For fans, this powerful sense of nostalgia lets you revisit your preference parts of your childhood: younger and simpler times. Nevertheless for artists, perhaps it is more innately tied to reinvention. Plastic Hearts, while not thematically tied into Cyrus’s past in MileyWorld, is about Cyrus stepping into her power as a rock icon. The past is ever present, and so so is MileyWorld — through the MileySpace. Right now, you could revisit 2009 Cyrus online as you meet 2020 Cyrus through the her music. In per year that has forced several people to pause and mirror on their lives, these artists are taking the time to delve into what made them so successful in the initial place.