Post-Britpop

Post-Britpop is a derivative form of Britpop that emerged in the late 1990s with groups such as Coldplay, Travis, Keane, and Snow Patrol. By musically straying away from the sounds of 1960s British guitar groups, favoring those crafted by more contemporary, non-British groups instead (aside from their Britpop predecessors, including Oasis and Blur), and by emphasizing more contemplative songwriting styles, these acts were collectively labeled by media outlets as guitar bands for a "new generation". As Britpop began to decline in popularity and cultural relevance during the mid-1990s, many of the genre's acts either disbanded or moved towards darker, more experimental sounds. Additionally, several concurrent British Alternative Rock groups such as Radiohead and The Verve began achieving substantial critical and commercial success. As such, many emerging UK guitar-based groups avoided using the Britpop label altogether. Rather, these young acts would often embrace a pensive, wistful image that would later come to define the post-Britpop style. Although post-Britpop is distinct from Britpop by incorporating alternative rock and American Indie Rock influences, post-Britpop takes most of its musical cues from the softer, more mellow stylistic approaches of Acoustic Rock, Soft Rock, Piano Rock, and Singer-Songwriter music. Therefore, many post-Britpop songs are categorized as sentimental ballads, featuring acoustic-leaning instrumentation, lush string arrangements, and mid-tempo song structures. Additionally, the dramatic, grandiose, and Post-Punk-tinged tones of Big Music (primarily those of U2's) were incredibly influential to post-Britpop's sonic palette, as well as the ethereal, psychedelic timbres of Dream Pop and the Space Rock Revival. Lyrically, groups drifted away from observable British concerns and focused more on introspective, confessional, and philosophical themes. In contrast to their preceding Britpop counterparts, many post-Britpop bands received international recognition and acclaim during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Post-Britpop was also largely credited for reviving Britain's tumultuous rock scene. The genre began to decline in popularity during the mid- and late 2000s by way of the Post-Punk Revival and Garage Rock Revival, but still proved massively influential to subsequent British indie rock groups such as Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, and Kaiser Chiefs.