Quinn Christopherson’s ode to “2005” delivers nostalgia through a distinctly 2022 lens

With co-signs aplenty - Lucy Dacus approves so much she’s bringing him on tour and he shares management with Julien Baker – Quinn Christopherson proves his ethereal, emotive chops all by himself too.

“2005” is his latest and sets him comfortably amongst his contemporaries. An alt-pop anthem built up with expansive textures and yearning synth, it continues to hone Christopherson’s unique, heartfelt voice, sharing a wry selection of mid-2000s images. Some good, some bad, Christopherson easily captures the melancholier side of nostalgia.

“Puffer vests and ugg boots” are amongst the swathes of vignettes Christopherson mentions, and it’s funny because the mentions that he harks back to have come back around: Avril Lavigne, pukka shells, things we loved back when, and love again now. As Christopherson sings about “mad cow disease”, finding his first girlfriend on Craigslist, and his dad going through his things, he has exactly as much affection and longing as he does for the positives.

“If I could go back, I’d say it’ll all get worse”, he sings with simplicity in the stream-of-consciousness lyricism and the gentle ebb and flow of the music, shimmering and building across its acoustic base. Textures appear just for a moment, like a breath of 2022 air.

There’s something about the Phoebe Bridgers-esque emotional core of the music that grounds it so strongly in the present-day indie-pop sound – and that’s why the nostalgia is so strongly embedded in the track. It’s backwards-looking, expertly evocative, and beautiful.

“‘2005’ has big rose-coloured glasses energy,” Christopherson explains. “It wasn’t the best time for me, but ‘2005’ is a collection of memories that I can look back on fondly. I know we don’t ever get do-overs, but this is my way of creating my own.”