Future Nostalgia could not have come out at a worse time. Lipa may have imagined her 11 new songs blasting through Ibiza and Miami during the summer, but the vast majority of the world’s clubs remained closed throughout the year, their dance floors collecting dust.

Yet Future Nostalgia underwent a metamorphosis in quarantine. Instead of pulsating through parties and clubs, the album’s songs played through phone speakers while we were on TikTok at 4 p.m. in our pajamas. This unforeseen change of situation elevated Future Nostalgia to something more than just a playlist of fun club songs — it cemented the album as a masterpiece of music that both defined and got us through quarantine.

Indeed, scientific evidence can explain this phenomenon. Studies published in the past decade have shown that nostalgia decreases feelings of loneliness and can serve as a reservoir of mental wellbeing and emotional stability. When people become nostalgic, they are revisiting positive memories that are personally meaningful to them. In doing so, they become inspired to do things that will let them reach the same level of joy they felt in the past. In other words, nostalgia causes people to become happier and more motivated to pursue future goals.

Even though most of us weren’t born in the 1980s, we are well aware of the decade’s aesthetic and vibe. The constant reference to, and romanticization of, the disco era in contemporary pop culture — through movies, TV shows, songs or otherwise — makes us all feel like we have a personal connection with ’80s glitter and glamour. In a way, we do: What college-aged person hasn’t had their parents blast ABBA or upbeat Whitney Houston songs throughout the house when they were young? As such, Future Nostalgia provides us with a blast-to-the-past nostalgic experience that brings us back to happier non-pandemic times, with tangible emotional benefits both for the present and the future.

These songs, through their serotonin-inducing instrumentals, allowed us to retain a semblance of optimism for the future — optimism that we can soon be back to dancing blurry-visioned and shoulder-to-shoulder with five other strangers. I can’t be the only one to have closed my eyes and pretended I was at a party when dancing to “Don’t Start Now” alone or with a couple friends at home. It’s easy to get pandemic fatigue and resign yourself to the opinion that the current state of things will never change. Future Nostalgia comes up, slaps you across the face and tells you to shut up while screaming, “You WILL eventually get the opportunity to embarrass yourself at a function again.”

True to its name, Future Nostalgia draws upon the past and future in an attempt to excite and electrify listeners. This goal is successfully achieved with its unskippable 11-song tracklist, but the album gains so much more meaning considering the state of the world into which it was released. So, even though we’re currently only able to dance to Future Nostalgia in a t-shirt and some sweatpants, don’t be too sad when glancing at the party outfits in your closet. Keep listening to the album and stay nostalgic for a future that is soon to come.

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