Short version: Popular will be back on Friday and back to a regular schedule.
Long version: Obviously Popular posts have been intermittent recently – to put it kindly. There are a bunch of reasons – from adjusting to a new job to the joys and demands of two small kids. But at heart, I think what I wasn’t admitting to myself how burnt out I’d got on writing about music after doing the Pitchfork and Guardian stuff: I needed a break. I would occasionally do a post, fool myself into thinking I’d do more, then just not turn that vague desire into action. It’s not the first time this has happened – Popular itself got started when I wanted to get away from writing and thinking about current music – but I’ve now had a break and feel a lot better for it.
I’m now trying something a bit different. I’m writing posts a batch at a time, instead of one at a time – since this weekend I’ve been working on the rest of the 1993 entries, and have 5 complete and 5 in note form. This still isn’t exactly churning it out, wordcount-wise, but the most important thing is I’ve really been enjoying it again. By Friday I will have enough to start posting them and I’m planning on putting new material up every Tuesday and Friday after that. Meanwhile I will have a new batch on the go.
So for anyone who’s waited it out – thankyou so much for your patience, and I hope you like the new posts. Massive thanks to everyone who’s kept FT going in the absence of new entries, commenters and contributors alike.