Caroline Polachek is a current pop artist and this song comes off her third album “Pang”. On this album, she collaborated with other PC music producers, which gives the songs a very layered arrangement of sounds and beats. This song is a great example of simple audio techniques to achieve a full, interesting composition.
The song starts with a muted reverb effect like the one discussed in our student presentation last week. This effect gives a very nostalgic feel, and makes the song more intense when the effect is taken away and the beat comes in. You hear the layers of the song slowly come in: her voice, then piano, then a melodic beat, then layered vocals, then the lower beat, and finally the full musical backing. The song retains that reverb throughout, creating a gentle, easy-listening feel. At the end of the song, it finishes how it began by gradually removing the layers of audio.
A lot of the elements of this song are common in pop music today, with similar layering/ beat structures found in music by Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, Doja Cat, etc. This style of music ranges in abrasiveness with the choice of sounds (some people call it “pots and pans music”), but is based on nostalgic pop music tropes that are then amplified. This genre and “Hit Me Where it Hurts” deal in nostalgia while providing something new, interesting and fun. With hyperpop being a relatively new genre, it will be very cool to see how it continues to develop.