Yes, you read that headline correctly — the early 2000s heartthrob is back and his music is not as bad as you would think. Though the EP’s title is trying too hard to be “trendy,” the five songs released last week are well-produced and have the potential to climb the Top 40 charts.

Aaron Carter is capable of making a more successful comeback than other older, washed-up artists is because he did a good job researching his target audience. This new material is Chainsmokers-inspired that’ll make teenage girls hop on an elevated surface and yell, “Oh my god, this is my song.”

This overall EP isn’t doing anything different from other pop megastars like Justin Bieber or Zayn Malik, but if you’re trying to make it back to the music scene, you have to follow who’s hot right now.

The chill EDM-pop beats of Carter’s first song, “Fool’s Gold,” set the tone for the rest of the EP. The music video for the song almost resembles Zayn’s “Pillowtalk,” with sexier scenes of a woman dancing, Carter with her on a bed and a ton of special effects to keep the audience visually intrigued. With lyrics like “Panties on my bed, where did they come from?” it’s clear that this isn’t the same “I Want Candy” tween heartthrob the world first fell in love with. To be fair, Aaron Carter is now 29 years old, so it’s appropriate for him to stop singing about candy.

The other four songs on Carter’s EP are no different from the first — raunchier lyrics, bubbly electronic beats that make for good dance music. I can already hear these songs in the background of Forever 21 stores across the country. The most popular song, “Sooner or Later,” sounds like a mixture of The Chainsmokers’ relaxed vocals from from “Paris” and the pop electronica of Troye Sivan’s “Youth.”

The song is already 100 on Spotify’s Top Charts, has continued to gain coverage from publications like Entertainment Weekly and has gotten about 11 million plays on Spotify. Clearly, he’s doing something right.

What makes Aaron Carter still relevant is that he’s trying to pull what many child singers do when they get older — become bad. His huge neck tattoo and risqué lyrics scream trouble, and I can’t help but be curious as to what his next moves are going to be. Just like when Justin Bieber publically urinated and stopped wearing a shirt, or when Miley Cyrus began to stick out her tongue all the time and sing about sex and drugs, the world loves to watch the young and innocent turn naughty and mature.

On top of that, Aaron Carter’s new music really isn’t bad. This EDM pop is what the majority of young America listens to nowadays, no matter how much we all deny or hate ourselves for it.

I never thought I would see the day that my first crush ever would return to the music industry. I mean, who could have guessed that the kid who was most known for kissing Lizzie McGuire in that Christmas episode would make a mature comeback 16 years later?

That’s what I love about the music industry — your favorites are never actually gone. Take Tony Bennett for instance. He’s 90 years old and still smashes the charts with duets with major stars like Lady Gaga.

Now, before you write off Aaron Carter, ask yourself if you enjoy listening to Justin Bieber, The Chainsmokers, Zayn or even Halsey. And if you do, “LøVë’” might surprise you.

Christine Chung is a senior communication and rhetorical studies major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. She can be reached at chchun02@syr.edu.

Published on February 19, 2017 at 8:01 pm