glitch pop

Glitch pop is a niche and eclectic style of Indietronica that arose around the turn of the millennium. The genre typically retains indie sensibilities, frequently incorporating live vocals and instrumentation, Pop song structures, and a DIY attitude with a focus on consumer electronics. However, it is defined by its incorporation of newer forms of leftfield Electronic music, particularly the percussion and unconventional sound design of IDM (and Drill and Bass) as well as Glitch editing techniques similar to those found in Folktronica, as pioneered by Oval. Other common elements are the use of atmospheric, dreamy synth textures as found in Ambient Pop, Bitpop-inspired Chiptune-like synth leads, and the stuttery, syncopated breaks of Broken Beat. The use of clipped audio samples has also led to inspiration from and crossover with Mashup.

Early artists who incorporated IDM and glitch elements into a pop-oriented indie or Alternative Rock context included Radiohead (particularly on Kid A and Amnesiac), Max Tundra, múm, and Sweet Trip. This sound was then picked up and primarily popularised through the 2000s by way of German leftfield label Morr Music and the American Carpark Records, along with a burgeoning array of netlabels including En:peg Digital, laridae, and The tonAtom netlabel. Other artists approached the glitch pop sound from a more experimental angle, with The Books moving in a more accessible direction on later works. Dntel, another early glitch pop producer, would bring elements to the sound to greater prominence and critical acclaim within the indie scene through his duo The Postal Service.

Though it kept a fairly low profile for most of the 2000s, glitch pop would see renewed interest around 2010 as Sweet Trip started gaining a retrospective fanbase and new glitch pop producers like Baths put their own spin on the genre with more modern influences like Wonky and Glitch Hop. The genre would start to intermingle heavily with post-Dubstep influences through the 2010s, leading to crossovers with the emerging Alternative R&B sound like Clarence Clarity and FKA twigs. The label XL Recordings and its sister label Young became a hub for this sound and fellow travellers, featuring Radiohead (and Thom Yorke solo), The xx, FKA twigs, and the Deconstructed Club-influenced Arca (who had made more straightforward glitch pop as Nuuro beginning in the late 2000s). Despite this, some artists continue to pursue a more traditional indietronic sound, prominently including Devi McCallion and Katie Dey in their collaborations as well as solo. .