Rebecca Black captures the pop zeitgeist on "Anyway"

16 February 2019, 11:11 | Written by Pip Williams

(Tracks)

(Rebecca Black)

Best known for her much-memed viral debut "Friday", Rebecca Black burst into the public consciousness with the widely derided dial-a-hit back in 2011. In the years that followed, Black's succession of catchy, low-substance tracks failed to capture an audience on a similar scale.

Those of you still rooting for the ex-child-star underdog eight years later will be thrilled to hear new single "Anyway" – an understated pop cut sure to get her back on the radar, this time for all the right reasons. Abstract samples drift in and out of swirling 1975-esque synths, with Black's voice unrecognisably mature when compared to the nasal tones of her breakout hit. "Anyway"'s chorus centres on a lilting, sunlit refrain – "I'm gonna love you anyway" – reminiscent of Anna of the North and other Nordic/Scandi pop merchants.

"Anyway" is the classy, grown-up change of direction we should always have seen coming from Rebecca Black. Scrolling the artists she follows on Instagram reveals how on-the-pulse her tastes are: big names such as MØ and Marina sit alongside breaking gems like BAUM and Chelsea Jade. Black – who for some time embodied the meme-ification of pop culture – has finally managed to capture the current pop zeitgeist on her own terms.