Illustration by Laura Lannes Welcome to New Retro Week, a celebration of the biggest artists, hits, and cultural moments that made 2012 a seminal year in pop. MTV News is looking back to see what lies ahead: These essays showcase how today’s blueprint was laid a decade ago. Step into our time machine. By Ilana Kaplan Ten years ago, pop music underwent a pivotal shift. While glossy hooks dominated artists’ repertoires, so did alternative stylings, which helped usher in a gamut of subgenres and made critics and fans alike redefine the pop ethos. The release of Red prompted Taylor Swift’s evolution from diaristic songwriting to sticky, larger-than-life radio hits produced by Max Martin, while Lana Del Rey’s cinematic sadcore and woozy vocals were equally captivating. The experimentation on Frank Ocean’s groundbreaking release Channel Orange, an album brimming with pop, R&B, and classic-rock references, has echoed throughout today’s pop singers. And then there was Carly Rae Jepsen, a British Columbian singer-songwriter who had been cutting her teeth across the border after a stint on Canadian Idol. Afte… Click below to read the full story from MTV News
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