Vocal Production, Mimesis, and Social Media in Bedroom Pop

Bedroom pop, as a subgenre of indie pop, has recently grown rapidly in popularity. The primary characteristics of bedroom pop encompass the self- or home-production of musical material, digital production techniques, layering, limited instrumentation, and, most notably, the use of a stylized breathy, quiet vocal timbre that we call the “bedroom pop mixed voice.” This article applies music theory and analysis, media and gender studies, and vocal science studies to two ends. First, we describe how the bedroom pop mixed voice is produced, offering both physical and anatomical definitions of it. Grounded in embodiment, mimesis, and physiology, we show how the bedroom pop mixed voice is used for stylistic and narrative purposes through the analysis of recent popular bedroom pop artists such as Billie Eilish, dodie, Lizzy McAlpine, and Olivia Rodrigo. Second, in tracing the use and propagation of the bedroom pop mixed voice through social media, we aim to discover bedroom pop’s social and cultural impact on Gen-Z music makers. Through the lenses of antiphony and mimicry (Shelley 2020, Cox 2016), we show how amateur performances and covers of bedroom pop songs replicate this vocal production style. These covers have proliferated through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and they have influenced a new generation of (primarily female-identifying) singers (Wolfe 2012, Barna 2022).