Why Nostalgia in Music Works: Chappell Roan’s Secret
Jun 24, 2025
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Tero Potila
Nostalgia in music is that sudden rush you get when a piece of music transports you to a different time, stirring up strong emotions and evoking vivid personal connections. This feeling is called music-evoked nostalgia. It links auditory stimuli to specific periods in our lives—a favorite song from high school, a first dance, or even a road trip with a best friend.
Chappell Roan has become a master of engineering that emotional connection. Together with her producer Daniel Nigro, she uses production techniques that mirror auditory stimuli from past times—vinyl records, vintage synths, tape hiss—that mimic the textures of nostalgic music.
These are not random flourishes; they engage specific parts of the brain, like the auditory cortex, hippocampus, and parietal cortex, to trigger musical nostalgia.
As a producer myself, I’ve learned that the way music makes you feel nostalgic isn’t just about lyrics or genre. It’s about neural nostalgia: the release of dopamine and emotional responses tied to familiar songs from your formative years or teenage years.
The Science Behind Nostalgia Music
Research shows that nostalgic music impacts emotion regulation, memory, and even mental health. Brain scans reveal that nostalgic songs activate neural pathways linked to memory and reward.
These tracks stimulate the reward system and light up emotional centers, explaining why a single song can unleash powerful forces of joy, sadness, or comfort.
According to studies on the relationship between music and memory, the brain utilizes music to organize life experiences, particularly during adolescence, a developmental stage. That’s why music from your adolescent years often carries the strongest nostalgic feelings.
I’ve found that when I experiment with layering retro textures into a modern mix, like Chappell Roan does, the emotional reaction from listeners is immediate. You can hear the nostalgia come alive in their response.
Personal and Cultural Nostalgia in Chappell Roan’s Music
Everyone experiences musical memories differently. This is where individual differences play a crucial role.
Your musical preference might be shaped by childhood rituals, favorite music during early adulthood, or group settings like school dances and family gatherings.
How Personal Connections Shape Nostalgia
Chappell’s music leverages this complexity. She often fuses different genres and formats, creating a collective memory experience that is both engaging and immersive.
A track may remind older adults of a cassette-era ballad while also connecting with younger generations via a TikTok remix. It’s a unique way to bridge personal experiences with shared cultural references.
From a production standpoint, I often use techniques that simulate vinyl records, VHS textures, and retro synth pads to unlock those long-dormant positive experiences.
It’s incredible how a particular song that uses these tricks can feel like a special song to so many, regardless of age.
The Reminiscence Bump and Beyond
The phenomenon known as the reminiscence bump demonstrates that music from the teen years and younger years is more likely to be remembered and emotionally significant. This is why a familiar tune from a summer playlist or a prom night often becomes permanently etched in memory.
Why We Remember Some Songs Forever
Chappell Roan knows how to lean into that bump. She frequently uses melodies that mirror popular songs from specific decades, but layers them with modern beats. That blend creates feelings of nostalgia not only through its content but also through its structure, giving the listener a subtle tour down memory lane.
These are the songs that seem to stick in your head forever.
I definitely apply this to my own productions whenever it fits the song, especially when designing music intended for emotional storytelling. It’s all about understanding which sonic references evoke emotions that people haven’t felt in a long time.
How Social Media Makes Nostalgia Viral
In recent years, platforms like YouTube and TikTok have amplified the reach of nostalgia music. Content creators play a crucial role in curating musical memories and turning older tracks or nostalgic styles into viral sounds.
Chappell Roan’s music is built for this ecosystem. Her arrangements leave space for story arcs and emotional climaxes, making them perfect for clips that showcase weddings, reunions, or reflections on past experiences.
I see it all the time how familiar songs in short-form video content evoke emotional responses and foster social connectedness.
Rolan’s strategic use of sampled dialogue, retro FX, and coded valence groups makes her tracks feel ready-made for those 15-second bursts of sentiment.
How to Use Nostalgia in Productions
As a producer, you can tap into the powerful tool of nostalgia by layering emotional familiarity into your arrangements, just like Chappell Roan does.
Start by referencing sonic textures from specific times: an old song your audience likely grew up with, a classic Michael Jackson drum groove, or retro sounds from TV jingles or VHS tapes.
Use these cues to potentially unlock positive emotions tied to significant life events the listener will remember—a prom night, a first time road trip, or even the background music from early childhood.
For example, Chappell Roan often blends a lo-fi synth pad with a slightly detuned electric piano. This sound is reminiscent of late-’90s slow jams, subtly evoking the emotional tone of adolescent memories without sounding dated.
Even in digital formats, nostalgic production cuts through because it evokes genuine memories. There are also many amazing software plugins available today that emulate the old analog gear, making it easy to achieve that same warm sound that the original records were built on.
This holds true for all types of music: beats created for TikTok, songs produced for the Top 40 pop charts, film scores, as well as tracks crafted for sync licensing.
The way nostalgia is embedded in sound can transform your composition into a lasting emotional experience.
Why We Turn to Nostalgia in Tough Moments
During difficult times, people naturally gravitate toward nostalgic songs. I know I do that myself, too.
Whether it’s during a long drive, a breakup, or a life transition, the power of music to regulate mood becomes a survival mechanism.
Chappell Roan’s music has become a source of emotional health support for many. Her work starts with soft, familiar sounds, building into hopeful crescendos that help listeners process negative emotion and return to an uplifted emotional state.
When creating music, consider the emotional arc, starting with reflection and building to a release. It tends to resonate deeply, and it becomes more than just a track; it turns into a personal experience.
Next Time You Hear a Nostalgic Song…
Next time you hear a nostalgic song that stops you in your tracks, pay attention to what your brain is doing. That track might be tapping into your neural mechanism for memory, mood, and connection.
It could be a piece of music from your teen years, or a brand-new Chappell Roan track built on a blueprint from your childhood.
In a world that moves fast, nostalgic music offers more than comfort. It provides social cohesion, emotional clarity, and a moment of peace.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a young person looking to feel something real or an older adult reconnecting with your roots; there’s something universal in the way music brings us home.
Conclusion
Nostalgia in music is a powerful force, and few modern artists wield it as skillfully as Chappell Roan. By understanding the science behind music-evoked nostalgia and blending it with clever production techniques, she has created a signature sound that resonates across generations. That is why her music hits so deep.
I’ve definitely taken inspiration from how she taps into specific life experiences, references from TV shows and popular music, and her ability to trigger both emotional connections and scientific mechanisms, like the reward system. The result? A catalog of music that doesn’t just sound good—it feels like a return to the best parts of ourselves.
For anyone creating, consuming, or just feeling music, Chappell Roan is a case study in how the past can shape the present, and why a single song can mean everything.
About the author
Tero Potila is a professional music composer and producer. His career combining knowledge and experience from music, TV, film, ad, and game industries gives him a unique perspective that he shares through posts on teropotila.com.
