Having spent the last several years of my life as a music fan tracking down heavy, experimental, and obscure music, it’s taken me a while to find enjoyment in pop music. The cookie cutter drivel being pumped out by Top 40 stations gave me very little evidence to believe that anything in that sphere could be valuable. I’m no longer the hipster hardass that would fight off earworms at every turn, but it wasn’t easy. My evolution into a poptimist has been a long and winding road, filled with detours and false starts.

But if I had heard APRE’s new mixtape A001 twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have needed quite as much convincing.

These seven songs (and two instrumentals) offer up the very best of pop music, through several of its trends and costumes. The most obvious touchstone is Tears For Fears, but their brand of new-wavy synthpop is infused with flavors of disco, R&B, and Prince’s brand of funky fusion (the Prince influence is especially strong on “You”). The rollicking “I Don’t Love You” even has shades of indie-heroes The Postal Service with an acoustic guitar and cutesy drum machine. As odd as it might sound, there’s a thread through this mixtape that actually reminds me of early Mutemath.

It’s hard to tell if these pop songs would be as irresistible if it weren’t for the incredible production. Luckily, we don’t have to live in that hypothetical world very long, because these soundscapes are absolutely perfect. Lush synths dance with crystalline guitars around beat machines beneath the irresistible hooks.

And as great as these songs are, I keep being plagued by the reminder that this is just a mixtape. While acts around the world are working their fingers to their bone to fit half as many hooks into their albums, this is what APRE puts out as a mixtape. I know music isn’t a competition, but APRE might be winning anyway.

Follow APRE on Instagram.