Pulp followed suit with their first studio album in 24 years, ‘More’, and have played several live shows since, including a secret set at Glastonbury in June.
Robbie Williams jumped on the bandwagon as well, announcing his new album, suitably titled ‘Britpop’, which will be released in October. Also, as if all of this wasn’t enough, the absolutely unthinkable happened; the feud that occupied British tabloids and pop culture discourse for the better part of fifteen years was declared over – Oasis has finally returned.
Although it begs the question: Why, after over a decade of dedicated fans crossing their fingers desperately for an Oasis reunion, has it happened now, in 2025? Is it just a mere coincidence, are the Gallagher brothers looking for a bank account top-up, or is it a marker of something more – an overall unrest with today’s politics?
Since the genre’s formation in the early 1990s, Britpop has been known for its deep entanglement with politics, having played a vital role in Tony Blair’s campaign to get Labour back into government, helping him appear modern and fresh rather than the stereotypical stuffy politician. The 90s saw many interactions between pop culture and politics, with public endorsements from Damon Albarn, to Noel Gallagher’s Downing Street visit and Tony Blair’s brief stint in modelling for Vanity Fair's Britpop issue, ‘Cool Britannia’. Before the 1997 election, Blair’s press secretary explicitly, and strategically, linked the genre to politics, writing that ‘something has shifted, there’s a new feeling on the streets. There’s a desire for change. Britain is exporting pop music again. Now all we need is a new government.’
The 90s experienced immense instability as a result of poor political leadership, with Thatcher resigning after a massive decrease in support, leaving a trail of economic uncertainty and high unemployment rates in her wake. There was an overall feeling of national unrest, with many riots taking place during her time in office. The working class struggled financially, with very little employment opportunity, and, as a result, ‘on the dole’ and ‘signing on’ became common terms, with numerous people receiving weekly benefits from the government.
Music began to give voice to this working-class struggle under the genre of ‘Britpop’ in the early 1990s. Pulp and Blur both communicate the working-class perspective in their respective hits, ‘Common People’ and ‘Parklife’, with both songs becoming popular staples of UK music. Oasis wrote plenty of tunes inspired by working-class life, including ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’, which expresses the disillusionment of the working-class, with drinking, smoking and drugs becoming a remedy for a feeling of emptiness and financial insecurity, rather than a sign of hedonism and glamour which it is usually associated with.
Britpop was the working class’ expression of dissatisfaction and a loud call for political change, which was eventually answered when the UK successfully elected its first Labour government in 18 years in 1997. Despite the outcome of Blair’s term as Prime Minister, there was an overall sense of optimism, a glimmer of hope that a sense of stability and security might still return.
Is it a coincidence, then, that Britpop has made its return in the 2020s, after an immense period of instability and insecurity? Brexit, Covid-19 and ‘Partygate’ all caused disillusionment and distrust towards the conservative government. As well as this, the cost of living crisis has become a regular part of most adults' vocabulary since late 2021, with the price of essentials like food, energy, travel and rent rising exponentially without a coordinating wage growth to combat it – making everyday life more of a struggle, especially for the working-class.
This national disillusionment in conservative leadership not only led to both the resignations of Tory leaders, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, but also the election of the first Labour Party government in 14 years. Not unlike the genre’s birth, Britpop rapidly gained popularity during the height of an unstable economic and political period. So, can Britpop’s newfound popularity be considered a coincidence, or rather, is it an intervention, a sign of national unrest and a desire for change?
The British public seem to be ditching the shiny media-trained popstars with their diamanté microphones, incredibly detailed stage sets and perfectly choreographed performances to songs about money, sex, drugs and fame. Instead, they look back (not in anger) to the Gallagher brothers with their messy hair, unfiltered words and plain performances. Britpop’s rise in popularity over the last few years points to the public’s desire for music and artists that are more relatable and more attuned to the hardships that they have been facing. More than that, it is a demand for change.
Image: Gie Knaeps/Getty Images/Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Avalon/ Tim Mosenfelder/Michel Linssen/Redferns