Creativity Quote by Martin Fry

There’s a pop musician’s weariness in Fry’s complaint: not against repetition as a musical tool, but against repetition as a substitute for imagination. Coming from the frontman of ABC - a band that built sleek, literate pop on sharp turns of melody and persona - the line reads like a quiet manifesto for variety, surprise, and craft. He’s not dismissing the pleasure of a hook; he’s calling out the laziness that can hide inside it.

The phrasing does a neat double move. “It’s good” is a concession that keeps him from sounding like a snob; he grants the basic competence, even the crowd-pleasing effect. Then he lands the real criticism: “kind of predictable.” That “kind of” is almost more cutting than a harsher verdict. It implies predictability is a slow erosion - not a catastrophic failure, but a ceiling you keep hitting until the music (or the message) stops feeling alive.

Subtextually, he’s also talking about identity. Bands and scenes often survive by repeating a signature stance: the same lyrical grievance, the same posture, the same sonic brand. That consistency can read as authenticity, but Fry’s line suggests another truth: when the statement never changes, it starts to resemble marketing. In a culture that rewards recognizable “takes,” his impatience is a defense of movement - of artists who evolve instead of looping their own slogan back at you.