Nothing Lasts Forever...Except the 80s
Pop culture is nostalgic for the past. Record players, Polaroid cameras, mom jeans, etc. Music is no exception. Several artists like The Weeknd and Dua Lipa have taken inspiration from the past to create new songs. Under the name Blanks, Simon de Wit is another musician bringing the throwback sounds of the 80s to the 2020s.
I first stumbled across Blanks in 2018. The Dutch musician was gaining traction on YouTube after his videos of one hour song challenges started blowing up. Taking requests off his social media, the singer took popular songs like Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” and recreated them in under an hour. This is not mindless mimicry. Blanks’ recreations are completely different from the originals. Putting his own twist on the production of songs, Blanks turns dark and heavy songs into light and airy ones and vice versa.
Blanks’ YouTube success has paid off. With over a million subscribers on YouTube, the artist has carved a space for himself on the music side of the platform. Blanks has gotten to collaborate with hit songwriters in several YouTube videos and has gone on tour with Dayglow.
Along his journey of climbing the ranks of YouTube, Blanks has dropped originals and turned to posting on other social media platforms as well.Learning how to produce from making covers to being able to create originals demonstrates his dedication to the craft. The singer is well known for his 80s style sound, as exemplified t by a snippet of his Post Malone’s “Better Now” cover that went viral on TikTok. Blanks is a master at tying the sounds of the past to his releases of the present.
Blanks has found his space and sound. The proof is in his latest release, entitled “Nothing Lasts Forever and That’s OK”. The 10 track album is entirely Blanks. Each track brings a little sparkle of the 80s to the 2020s.
Throughout the album, Blanks uses different vintage sounds in his tracks, drawing primarily on the older sounding synths. They’re on almost every track, but they’re different each time. Many of the songs on the album fit the vibe of an 80s anthem, but there are a couple of lighter stripped back ones like “I’m Sorry” and “Except For You.”
In addition to the synth instruments that give Blanks his iconic 80s come modern style is his use of synthetic drums. The drum sounds throughout the album are very reminiscent of 80s drum machines with their sounding very quantized and straightforward.
Despite the heavy 80s aesthetic sound of the album, Blanks brings aspects of the 2000s to the tracks to bring it to the present day. The chorus of “Dance Like This” is definitely 2000s material as well as many of the other vocals on the other tracks.
If you’re looking for a feel good album with a modern twist on the 80s, “Nothing Lasts Forever and That’s OK” is it.
You can listen to the album and other Blanks music here.