is there such a thing as dark pop
like upbeat pop music with really bleak themes or the inverse with eerie instrumentals backing up happy vocals or some mix of the two
Is there such a thing as dark pop
Blake Walker
Christian Young
Hey Ya
Parker Perez
Yes, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard's Paper Mache Dream Balloon
Upbeat acoustic pop about a serial killer fucking dead bodies
Nathaniel Torres
ducc
Nathan Carter
god damn it I hate that stupid band even more now
Oliver Baker
Most of Keane
Kite - Nick Heyward
A good number of Pete Yorn, Life on A Chain is a quality example.
Elijah Roberts
there's [spoiler]lana del rey[/spoiler]
Thomas Allen
the drums - portamento
of montreal
passion pit
etc
Carson Thomas
Some gabber anthems have dark sonics but then these cheerful, goofy little sing-along melodies.
And a lot of happy hardcore tracks are so happy they reach a delirious, demented place where it starts to sound kind of plastic-evil / compellingly corrupt / warped.
Also, Japanese popstar Kyary Pamyu Pamyu often does upbeat / cute pop but with dark themes, it's kind of her formula:
youtube.com
But yeah what you're looking for is a really cool formula and not done enough. You'll find it especially in hardcore techno of different types, and also in some early 00s teenpop. There are a couple dark Britney tracks.
Robert Jackson
Biggest wankers in modern music.