Vineet “Turning Back Time”

The art of pop anthems is a fickle profession to tackle; while some might see the genre as the most simplistic or “easy,” that assumption couldn’t be any further off base. The decades of pop music that precede modern pop within the music industry stack greatly against anything meant to come out in the current pop climate.

Everyone undoubtedly has their favorite eras of radio-friendly pop, but pop is such an all-encompassing genre that it’s far too broad to just associate the name “pop” with bubbly production and twee lyrics — for some, the words “pop music” might conjure up 80s dance music. Others might recall The Beatles or The Beach Boys. Some might distinctly associate “pop music” with modern starlets and female vocalists. Putting yourself within the ever-shapeshifting box of the pop industry is a move most would shy away from, especially in the indie scene.

The mercurial beast that is the music industry is unforgiving, so whatever an artist brings to the table better be ready to dominate. If it falters even slightly, it could cost the song and musician a great deal. Vineet, a modern tastemaker capable of dancing with even the most capricious critics, is a musical chameleon. His lack of borders within his art allows for motivated swings, and the ambition put on each track of his has yet to lead to any misses.

His latest single “Turning Back Time” is no different as far as a success within a new and untouched genre goes. From writing a pop song about running like Tom Cruise (one I can’t get out of my head) to performing entirely acoustic and lo-fi guitar-driven tracks, there’s no predicting where Vineet’s musical stylings will take him next. Rap, rock, indie acoustic, etc. are all on the table as Vineet flawlessly pivots from one style to the next. “Turning Back Time” hones in on the art of the pop club anthem, and reckoning with the decades-old popular structure of club bangers is something Vineet feels fully primed for as the song never misses a beat.

“Turning Back Time” calls upon the likes of Daft Punk, Eiffel 65, and Vengaboys to bring it to a full level of success. The strengths of pop music from this very niche, very specific era come in the form of exquisite instrumental and electronic production which “Turning Back Time” has in bulk. The lyrics are fun and easy to sing along to — “Turning back time to a place when things were fine; turning back, pressing rewind, to a time when you were mine.” The general prose never edges too far away from those lines in the chorus, offering a selection of different rhyme choices but staying almost entirely in its sing-along lane.

The overall expertise required to pull a song as upbeat and engaging as “Turning Back Time” would ask a lot from most musicians; luckily, Vineet isn’t most musicians and the high production value is just one of the many tools in his musical toolbox. Turning back time seems nice, but the future will hold more from Vineet so living in the present can’t be all too bad.

Samuel Pratt