Guide to Fifth Wave Emo (Post-Emo)Emo is a broadly defined genre, but some trends have manifested into movements because of aspects shared between artists that culminate in a sound that, while varied, is usually distinctive enough from its predecessors that they can be grouped together into a "wave." The waves, as they're commonly understood, are as follows:
- First Wave: 1980's Emocore
- Second Wave: 1990's Midwest Emo
- Third Wave: Early 2000's Emo-Pop
- Fourth Wave: Late 2000s-Early 2010's "Midwest Emo Revival"
While there are plenty of examples of musicians outside of these movements that share influences or ideas with those in the movements, Emo as a whole is usually defined with these parameters. But this list has an obvious gap: what about everything after the early 2010's? I've been in the scene since the mid-aughts in online spaces and out in the world, and I felt the rush of influence with each wave I was able to see pass me by, but the mid and late 2010's were a challenging time for the genre, as it was going through a bit of a identity crisis. Movements were suggested, but because the artists were either too unlike their peers to make connections (eg: the handful of unrelated artists combining dream pop and emo) or were working within existing frameworks (eg: the emo-pop revival "Weed Emo" being more linked to pop punk than emo), no central idea of a fifth wave was agreed upon.
That is, until now.
The seeds sown by different acts over the years are finally being reaped by a new generation of talent, and the waning popularity of the genre since its last peak of 2014 is now seemingly at an end. The "Fifth Wave," sometimes called Post-Emo, is the genre's weird moment. Perhaps as an answer to the genre's perceived stagnation over the years or simply a celebration of what makes the genre so compelling, its fluidity in definition but consistency in purpose and effect on audiences, the new movement is more concerned with pushing the limits of the genre and seeing just how far they can take the sound while still being Emo. Some are incorporating shoegaze, or bedroom pop, or chiptune, or all three and more, while others are so difficult to categorize that all we can do is slap an experimental rock tag and listen. Yet even with their only similarity being how irreverent and different they are, the artists in the sound regularly collaborate online, share each other's art, and, during quarantine, have gathered to stream concerts in video games like Minecraft or Roblox. While it wasn't so obvious in 2020 that this would become a thing, it's almost undeniable now, especially as some artists are reaching the heights of the charts not just in their years but of all time.
Poll
