Lorde - Melodrama (2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMK_npDG12Q

LORDE BACK

there's a lot going on there

I like that it's not "Royals" redux, which would be the worst possible move. And I like it in and of itself.

I don't care, I love it, I don't care

This is basically what I wish Jamie XX's music sounded like.

This is a jam.

Interesting production. Melodically about as dull as it's possible to be

like your opinions then

j/k :* :)

Also, perfect album title.

I hope that this go-round I like more than half of the album.

MeLorderama

co-written by lena dunham's boyfriend

Really? I usually don't care too much for his stuff.

it takes a special kind of performer to almost ruin the energy of a track like that

I like this. Very catchy. She's a big fan of the processed hand-clap percussion though.

the housey piano is the best bit - ensuing chorus kinda ruins it

Phenomenal song. Disagree about her sucking the energy out of it; it's her droll/incensed/kinda bizarre vocal performance that sells it.

Sounds like it could be a "Hello"-sized smash to me. It's gonna sound incredible hearing this at bar close and on pop radio megamixes all summer long

Definitely has a lot of remix potential. It doesn't quite feel like the dance track I want it to be, but perhaps it's a grower.

I'm not wild about the production but it feels like it's going to be big regardless.

The chorus backing vocals make me think of Kate Bush, so I can't dislike this. Anyone else getting a Katy B vibe as far as direction?

This isn't bad. I had planned to hate her for all eternity after that Tears for Fears cover.

Kate Bush is a good call - not in the way it sounds, but in the way she's maturing as an artist.

Not sure about this on first listen - there is so much going on - but think it may well grow on me.

i like the parts w/the house piano

aka the good parts

on second listen it's a total earworm

can't stand the video, that being said

I like the pre-chorus/chorus, but not so keen on the verses, which feel kind of disconnected to me.

Kate Bush is a good call

Visually as well.

It would/will be more obvious should she breaks out of 1st person relationship songs. As far as I know, Lorde's not an instrumentalist. I wonder what would be today's equivalent of a Fairlight to get in her hands?

The backing vocals on the chorus sound so much like Niki & The Dove.

the last minute is the best part

Pretty good song. Dull lyrics but the delivery's convincing. Suspenseful verses building up to a big, booming chorus, the sound of something exciting happening RIGHT NOW.

Kate Bush comparisons seem criminal.

predictable but decent I guess

'She thinks she loves the beach you're such a damn liar' ✓

I like this a lot, and think it's full of energy. She uses three or four different sounding vocals in this and I think it really works. Booming chorus.

'She thinks you* love the beach etc'

I want to like this but it just makes me want to listen to Miike Snow instead. Silvia specifically.

the last minute is the best part

OTM, the detuned synth lead steals the whole song

terrible single on first listen, no coherence between verse and bridge

her voice is not great on this, sounds like she's stretching for those low notes, no idea why they wouldn't just have transposed it, I'm certain she'll be far off key live (not bcz she's not a good singer but bcz the song is out of her register)

I like this.

literally can't believe you're all handing out these props to that My First Chord Sequence chorus

are we really only demanding this of our pop

(the synth line at the end is decent I guess)

shut up

I love it when LJ starts talking about chord sequences and composition like he knows what he's talking about.

This does feel like it was written for the opening ceremony of a major sporting tournament in a city with no clear identity though.

yeah, it doesn't seem very... lordey to me

feels like a belting singer would have served the material better

i don't dislike this but it sounds pretty generic for someone considered an Event Artist (the reasons for which are beyond me)

feels like a belting singer would have served the material better

― niels, Friday, March 3, 2017 9:45 AM (twenty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my guy

1st person relationship songs

aka 95% of pop music in 2017

Or indeed, most pop music ever.

we need more of this https://youtu.be/8NO8h_uTkdU

the chorus is the weak part to me but the childish backing vox still end up stuck in my head so *shrug*

i agree that it sounds like it would be better for someone else's voice

I wonder what this would sound like if Selena Gomez sang it

better I think, Gomez has that plasticky generic voice that's perfect for basic pop whereas Lorde sounds like she's trying to impart profundity to everything she sings, which imo her material doesn't justify

Gomez's robotic intonation of luv-u-like-a-luv-song-bébé >>>>>>> any moment on this

One thing I think Lorde is very good at selling (both here and in the other songs of hers that I like) is youthful melodrama; the no-stakes parameters of the lyrics are being delivered as if she firmly believes they are the most important things ever uttered, which is about as perfect an encapsulation of teenage emotion as I can imagine. Obv whether that type of thing appeals to you or not is another matter entirely.

Distant xpost, but first thing I thought was Kate Bush "Big Sky." Second was Sia's "Cheap Thrills."

Anyway. Good first single.

I'll be hearing this 'ever I go, especially the lightup floor and the bedaroom

will never not be weird to me to witness grown-ass people losing their shit over the "perfect encapsulation of teenage emotion" but w/e

DJP otm

will never not be weird to me to witness grown-ass people losing their shit over the "perfect encapsulation of teenage emotion" but w/e

― Wimmels, Friday, March 3, 2017

you're right, we shouldn't read or listen to product by people under 21.

One thing I think Lorde is very good at selling (both here and in the other songs of hers that I like) is youthful melodrama; the no-stakes parameters of the lyrics are being delivered as if she firmly believes they are the most important things ever uttered, which is about as perfect an encapsulation of teenage emotion as I can imagine. Obv whether that type of thing appeals to you or not is another matter entirely.

― Rachel Luther Queen (DJP), Friday, March 3, 2017 6:46 PM (fifteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hmm I've never really got this from her; earnestness I guess, drama no

you're right, we shouldn't read or listen to product by people under 21.

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, March 3, 2017 2:00 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you're right because "teenage emotion" is all people under 21 across genres ever write about

I'm not sure what distinguishes teenage emotion from adult emotion except that adults are sillier about it.

what is meant by "teenage emotion" was defined in the post, and feeling that for 4 minutes while an adult seems obviously attractive

The post was also talking about how a now 20yo's songs come across, not their subject matter, so I don't really think the attempted "teenage emotion is all young ppl write about" dig actually makes any sense.

I experience teenage emotion whenever I get a new pimple.

I also railed against crushingly boilerplate melodies as a teenager

a boilerplate, crushing that teen

you should enjoy it when boilerplate melodies are given new life.

we are running out of melodies

suits the songs narrative well tbh

Sorry I'm not getting this song... for me the appeal of her first album was how stripped down and homemade it sounded. This one sounds... I don't know... more commercial? Which is ironic because I doubt this one will make it anywhere as big as Royals. It sounds more generic, more like something you hear on the radio everydau. Way too snappy for how I wanted her to sound. Maybe the full album changes my mind but so far I'm not liking this at all.

This is great imo

---I also railed against crushingly boilerplate melodies as a teenager

Having the same opinions at 30 that you had in yr teens isn't a good thing

(There should be a "necessarily" in there but I was trying hard to not just say "Grow up", so)

i have heard this song twice and really couldn't be more satisfied. can't wait for this album.

Lorde sounds like she's trying to impart profundity to everything she sings, which imo her material doesn't justify

otm

Imago I don't like this song very much and agree it's pretty generic (except the vocals that people are hating on, which are the thing that gives it a bit of personality). But I'm going to guess that you have virtually no formal music training and minimal understanding of music theory because it's pretty insulting that you keep defaulting to phrases like "boilerplate melodies" and "my first chord progression", the way you keep reaching for this sort of pseudo-objectivity to justify yr moral high ground whenever your "actually I really love pop music and all its untapped potential" mask slips. You like lots of artists with boilerplate melodies and the rest of the stuff you rep for, even the good stuff, isn't exactly Mozart.

ok well, to be more precise in my criticisms, the pre-chorus melody being the same as the chorus melody, and this melody taking up more than half the song, is deeply cloying to me in a way that perhaps my lack of formal music training can't fully articulate, especially as it's such a simple and obvious melody that we've all heard a zillion times before

someone like carly rae jepsen or rihanna usually avoids being cloying in this manner despite also being Pop as anything. i wish i had the musicological chops to explain why

also yeah, the sonic palette of this song is really cool & engaging and i'm sorry to be all aspie about the melody when a single chord-change would probably have me loving the song ;_; you may continue piling on

You could just say it's cloying? I mean I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that.

It's not the most offensive thing in a thread where people are comparing it to Kate Bush and Katy B. Niki & The Dove feels more on point or maybe one of Florence's more recent stadium bankers but not much more than that.

For the record, I think I said I thought of Kate Bush due to a distant echo of "Big Sky," but the song doesn't really sound like Kate Bush at all. I agree it's a pretty lazy track, but not bad.

the pre-chorus melody being the same as the chorus melody

this is a good pop trick imo bc the character of the melody changes based on the arrangement behind it

i'm with the people here who don't particularly dig the stately piano melodrama of the verses; rest of it is reasonably enjoyable

lmao i just woke up and was unconscious of using the word "melodrama" into that description

I don't think this sounds anything like what's on American pop radio (that interlude about the shark's teeth!), but what do I know?

idk the beginning makes me thing i'm gonna get "wrecking ball" or something. she subverts that considerably but at the cost of making the song feel uneven. still, pretty cool & fun

Wrecking Ball is 1000 times better than this.

My fondness for this song has waned. I still like all the flailing around she does in the video though.

Wrecking Ball is 1000 times better than this.

― “Remember,” he says, “Noddy Holder is a gangster.” (contenderizer), Saturday, March 4, 2017 12:28 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

was a description not a value judgment

someone like carly rae jepsen or rihanna usually avoids being cloying in this manner despite also being Pop as anything. i wish i had the musicological chops to explain why

often when people find themselves thinking this sort of thing about music the answer is "I like Carly Rae Jepsen or Rihanna on a persona/meme/received-opinion level and do not like Lorde on that level"

just my opinion, but lorde sucks

testing out some of these "i think ill post in the hip hop thread" ilx posting styles

insane that she went 5 years without releasing a follow-up and everyone is still anticipating this lol.

we are running out of melodies

― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, March 3, 2017 11:52 AM (yesterday)

Weren't modernist classical composers suggesting this 100 years ago?

why is this song stuck in my head ffs ffs ffs

Lorde as an event artist is so bewildering to me, she had one racially-problematic hit a few years ago and what else

I wish all the Niki & The Dove comparisons would lead people to the amazing N&TD album from last year

why is this song stuck in my head ffs ffs ffs

― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Saturday, March 4, 2017 7:44 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

deep down you really love this song

i dont even think royals is problematic tbh ... its good tbh. but the idea of her as like a serious artist we shd take v v seriously is seriously weird imo

I think it's less what you (and I and etc) might think about taking her seriously and what others do.

i think acting like lorde is a one hit wonder or rita ora-type is somewhat disingenuous. her debut album has sold over 5 million copies and is 3x platinum in the USA

also she was like...15 when her debut single was released iirc so i don't begrudge her taking a little time to grow up a bit and figure out what she wanted to do next

i dont even think royals is problematic tbh ... its good tbh. but the idea of her as like a serious artist we shd take v v seriously is seriously weird imo

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Saturday, March 4, 2017 11:01 PM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i agree w/the sentiment behind this, but it's not really weird to me considering this is ILM

the reason this feels so uneventful (though competent), to me, is that lorde was among the early wave of "alt-pop" (for lack of a better term) artists achieving mainstream pop success, a wave followed by dozens. so now this sounds like it could be by anybody,

i do also agree w that analysis

also she was like...15 when her debut single was released iirc so i don't begrudge her taking a little time to grow up a bit and figure out what she wanted to do next

― monotony, Saturday, March 4, 2017 10:21 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

teenage rappers dont get nearly this level of 'understanding' lol

She featured on that Disclosure track (co-wrote?) and worked on a few songs for the Hunger Games soundtrack in the 3 and a bit years since her LP. It's not like she's done nothing. Not many pop artists releasing every two years but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Looking forward to hearing the rest of her album.

the Hunger Games is more sonically adventurous despite not being about anything.

Piano in-between bit is dope, idk about the rest though

she recorded a song with Why? at my friend's studio a few years ago, but it has never seen the light of day, which is too bad because by his account it is fantastic

i think tuneyards mixed it.

New track out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtvJaNeELic

Sounds a bit like a fun. track. I'm a fan of fun. but I don't know if I like this sorta torch-song thing on her. Also it's kinda unsubstantial for a single.

I am not quite getting the logic of sitting at the bottom of her range so much

This song gets better as it goes along but is kind of boring

Yeah I got bored and started singing "All the Young Dudes" halfway through.

I am not quite getting the logic of sitting at the bottom of her range so much
maybe they think it's her unique selling point, and Royals was prob around there too, but if I were Lorde I'd be dreading that SNL performance...

does it kinda sound like she's singing with a very pointy mouth? is it just a nz accent?

every other singer sounds like that -- Ellie Goulding, Alessia Cara, etc

I've listened to it once and so here's my knee-jerk, ill-informed opinion: I really like the switch to the 90s-style house piano on the bridge because it's so unexpected (I was expecting that sort of minimalist, stately ballad thing she did on her first album). Always nice to hear something genuinely surprising in a song. That aside, the song is fine but it never quite lifts off; it's one of those songs where the build-up to the chorus is better than the chorus. I would not be happy enough if this song came on in the gym. Big praise indeed.

I like Alessia Cara! she does sing too low but whatever

"Liability" just reminds me of another song using a Pachelbel Cannon-like melody. Pretty dull

surprisingly the SNL performance made me like Green Light a fair bit more, the chorus percussion comes through much stronger in that performance. verse is still really weak though

I sat with my excited 11-year-old (who's pretty musically sophisticated) at the kitchen table this morning and we ran both performances after each other on repeat until it was time for school. Both awesome.

Yeah, I think she sold those songs surprisingly well on SNL.

Agreed. If I had first heart them via the SNL performances I would have been sold from the get go. She gave them the boost of energy they needed.

I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth
She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar

not enough energy in the damn world

i am lorde yah yah yah lorde lorde lorde yah yeah

she handled that SNL performance very well

I missed the second song but I thought "Green Light" was great. Also makes me wonder why they picked the takes they used for the studio version when she sounded much more comfortable in her lower register live.

It was a good SNL performance - I always had the idea she wasn't a good live performer, I was wrong - but it just makes it more clear how superior the 'house piano' section on the pre-chorus is to the rest of the song. I always forget the verses and the chorus annoys me a bit but for a brief moment in there it feels like the song is going to do something amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf0Np2bup9I

another new song. it seems like she's throwing a bone to fans who wish she hadn't strayed so far from her Pure Heroine sound, but I don't care, it's a good bone with a nice texture

Jesus, how many songs in the last 15-20 years have been called "Sober?" And were there any before then?

really like the record! it's meticulously po-faced with the occasional playful interruption (childlike explosion noise on "Homemade Dynamite", the way the reference to being immortalised in the Louvre is phrased, the absurd likeness to The Dreaming-era Kate Bush on "Writer In The Dark")

I am forced to admit despite my apathy that this is pretty good

meticulously po-faced

A fair description but I did laugh at "They’ll hang us in the Louvre/Down the back, but who cares—still the Louvre."

First impression: good album, stronger than the first overall but maybe not as many hooks. Some of the songs will take a few listens to sink in.

I agree about the onion rings. Thank god there's someone speaking truth to power on this subject now. The whole industry needs accountability.

I like this a lot. It sports the second good song with Louvre-as-metaphor in less than a year.

I have never cared about her and the little I heard previously I didn't like but surprisingly I like this album. I have only listened to it only a couple times but so far I find it quite good and moving. It's catchy/mainstream yet feels intimate.
It's big and expensive but as noted by others there are some unexpected and charming moments (the explosion sound she makes, the way she says "anyway still the Louvre"). Also there are great songs but also some parts that make the whole cohesive as an album.
Actually I said quite good but it's very good, thinking about it (I write this while listening to the final song of the album) !

Echoing everyone else, I enjoyed this album a lot; I also look forward to her eventual duets with Selena Gomez.

Also I'm glad I'm not the only one who went "whoa when did she become Kate Bush" when the chorus to Writer in the Dark came around.

Like this album a lot. Favorite tic that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is the scream in Supercut. Also anyone else get Echo + TB vibes at the end of The Louvre?

This was a huge surprise for me. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

the last line in Perfect Places that goes "What the fuck are perfect places, anyway?" feels super familiar to me. The phrasing and sentiment and use of the word anyway remind me of another song but i can't quite put my finger on it. Any ideas? or am i just crazy?

Yeah the Kate Bush aspect is endearing. Right now "liability" is crushing me.

Yeah Louvre final is great too and EchoTBesque indeed

The verses in "Liability" remind me of "All the Young Dudes."

Definitely, same chords progression. It's so simple and almost throwaway but very touching

"Liability" is the only song I'm not really feeling.

are you saying compared to the rest of the album it's a

song that's somewhat lacking

i wanted to say, i like the cover art on this album.

I wasn't impressed with "Liability" on SNL so I'm surprised how much I like it on the album. Guess I needed to hear it a few times.

Have now played this a few more times at work today and really enjoyed it all the way through. I like how she and Antonoff refined and expanded her sound without losing the sense of intimacy from the first album. Still kind of feels like Lorde alone in a room, just a bigger room with nicer furniture.

Good listen indeed. "Supercut" is my standout.

the only track i don't really care for is "sober II (melodrama)," but besides that, the record is really good

I have yet to listen to this album, but I find her onion ring interest relatable

Good listen indeed. "Supercut" is my standout.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, June 16, 2017

For me too. Good lyrics!

Blowin shit up with homemade d-d-d-dynamite!

the only track i don't really care for is "sober II (melodrama)," but besides that, the record is really good

I'm on that track! I wish they'd let me cut loose, but they had a specific thing in mind

whaaaaaat

whoa

Nice ! What do you play ?
Re:"Homemade Dynamite" there's a little imperial phase Timbo feel imo.

Playing what? Strings? In any case, congrats! That's really cool.

Xp

this is a big step up from her debut and it's quite pleasant overall but mostly it's not really grabbing me yet either

the only track i don't really care for is "sober II (melodrama)," but besides that, the record is really good

I'm on that track! I wish they'd let me cut loose, but they had a specific thing in mind

― fgti, Saturday, June 17, 2017 6:03 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ah, nice! would've loved to have heard what you wanted to bring to the table

were you provided onion rings?

Really liked my first run through of this album. This would sound great on a late night drive.

sounds good but I still can't get with her pronunciation, sounds like she's pouting all the time

she does come off as wise beyond her years and quite sympathetic in recent RS feature though:
http://i.imgur.com/U46jMq9.png

eh if she was wise beyond her years, why does she hear wisdom in Don Henley?

sneaky passive voice "might be considered uncool"

I thought you heard wisdom in Don Henley?!

Don't look back
You can never look back

roll my eyes so hard when RS uses "might be considered uncool"

Lorde not doing much to dispell the rumors that she's actually 45 by digging Henley and Phil Collins

wow can't believe lorde is donald trump

I think 35 and younger and 55 and older would be acceptable Collins/Henley fan ages

anywhere between then idk

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/91/8d/75/918d75f16c1378e807563bc4b37011f0.gif

lorde is seasoned enough by this point to play to the outlets she's being interviewed by, I'd be surprised if she didn't mention someone like Don Henley

"also, every REM album is a 5 star record!"

lol if she was thinking "hmm this is going to be in Rolling Stone, how could I fuck with them? Better mention Don Henley"

DON: Well, yeah.

Before giving me any assignments, Whiney asks if I like Don Henley.

it's great because half the time I think of RS I picture some old white dude who peaked in the 70s and keeps wondering why there aren't more lists with Led Zepplin

the other half of the time I picture Whiney saying something about deadlines

Lorde talked to Tavi Gevinson for the Rookie podcast and mentioned Don Henley frequently in that conversation, for what it's worth

I think nothing would piss off Don Henley more knowing that a young female electronic musician with an obvious debt to current pop likes him, the more I think about it.

def. Kate Bush vibes on the "Writer in the Dark" chorus but Lorde is a million miles away from having the evocative emotional touch of Bush

Saying that I really like this

Yo, fgti, nice!

I have listened to the album a lot over the w-e and it's really good.
The only song I don't enjoy as much as the others is "sober" but it's alright.
I find the album almost too short (although I like that most of the songs are unusually short for these days. they say and do what they have to without expending for the sake of it).
One of the several moments I love is the "loveless" part. it's so light and great pop compared to the rest and right in the middle of the album.

Also anyone else get Echo + TB vibes at the end of The Louvre?

It was definitely reminding me of something. Came up with "Puerto Rico Way" by the 6ths.

ooooo that's a good one.

Was also wondering what Lorde Album #2 sounds like thematically if Tayor and 1989 didn't exist.

there are a few songs that remind me, maybe through roundabout influence, that Lorde curated a pretty good Hunger Games soundtrack

IN MY HEAD I DO EVERYTHING RIGHT WHEN YOU CALL I FORGIVE AND NOT FIGHT ALL THE MOMENTS I PLAY IN THE DARK WE WERE WILD AND FLUORESCENT COME HOME TO MY HEART

Sober is a GREAT track

It's been pointed out that Sober is a response to Tennis Court thematically

this is sequenced flawlessly, one of those summer record you can't help but put on repeat.

d-d-d-d-dynamite

did you write about it Alfred? would love your opinion on this record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bhvufnPkxc

she rules

so good

This is the one album where I initially thought, "album of the year", where I then was, with significant-more listens, an album with just a few album highlights, but that overall was, to my surprise, a disappointment.

that cover is a butchering imo

I listen to it again atm and still really like it.
It feels so intimate and touching for such a big pop act.
And the production is really good.
The whole thing flows nicely and her voice/delivery is fantastic throughout (and I'm not even a fan - have never listened to her first album).
I still think it's a bit of a waste that "Loveless" wasn't made into a proper song.

In her wtf interview she enthusing about Phil Collins but I think using Take Me Home as an example of his greatness

It's not the war crime she committed against Tears for Fears level bad, but it's bad.

^ re: the Collins cover obvs

It’s p bad, makes her style feel like schtick actually. Maybe it was on a dare because “I can feel it coming in the air tonight / oh Lorde”. And the keys after the drums enter are pure failure.

just dropping by to say that 'the louvre' is a terrible song and what are you doing calling a song that only a few months after dawn richard bodied that song title

Perhaps the cover is not great but range is overrated anyway, just thought it was cool to see her do that song but whatevs

Ha, "Take Me Home" is my favorite Phil Collins song ever. Still doesn't make me like this album more. I really like a few songs, but don't see the love for the album whole anymore.

Yeah I’m a big fun. fan but I definitely prefer Lorde’s Joel Little stuff to her Jack Antonoff stuff.

Except that ending of Green Light where the distorted bending synths kick in and finish it off. That bit is killer.

Pick Up Our full page ad against #Lorde & #BDS Today in #WashingtonPost. Last Change to donate! https://t.co/FEzcTDyYg8 pic.twitter.com/90NJLIcqEG

— Rabbi Shmuley (@RabbiShmuley) December 31, 2017

To be fair, fuck Russia.

fuck BDS too but really wtf she’s a kid from NZ who sings

Vile.

New Zealand and Israel are already at war iirc

Hard to not hear liability and wonder if lorde is alright

Lore, please report in

Classic album

Tru

Strongly disagree but not enough to go full ogmor about it

For an album titled “Melodrama,” it was oddly cool-blooded...

“Green Light” is a dynamite track, and around half the others were def. good; but the CD stopped finding its way from my glove box to car stereo after a few weeks.

Hey Morris maybe you should find that cd.

It’s still in my glove box! Probably under a CD that gets more play (like “Reputation”).

Hard feelings/Loveless is absolutely classic

I loved this album !
But it bombed, didn't it ?
I feel like I never hear about her anymore.

I hear about her doing covers every few weeks

she's on world tour forever

Like this album a lot. Favorite tic that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is the scream in Supercut. Also anyone else get Echo + TB vibes at the end of The Louvre?

― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Friday, June 16, 2017 3:20 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm just getting around to this. I don't know Echo and the Bunnymen very well, but it reminded me of the outro to Siouxsie's Dazzle.

new single "solar power" soon

some Free cover connection going on here..

https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2021/06/lorde-solar-power-1623098760-1000x1000.jpeg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/Free_albumcover.jpg

But seriously looking forward to new Lorde, loved that last album so much.

unexpected revive

revisited melodrama today and wow i do not like this record

this is the first time you've posted this sentiment

you said you loved music you're such a damn liar

I still like this album a lot

it was a good album, not a great one

"green light" & "the louvre" both great tracks though

I like it, but more in theory than execution. "Supercut" will always be a perfect song to me, though, and "Green Light" and "Writer in the Dark" are pretty up there as well

i think the chorus of "the louvre" is fucking amazing, and i like "supercut" but this album radiates high key theater kid energy that is repellant to me unless it is cut with other things

The new song is nice (not so sure about the lyrics, tho).

nice of antonoff to shrug off his claustrophobic tendencies but otherwise zzz

it immediately reminded me of "Brighter Than The Sun" by Colbie Caillat

nice of antonoff to shrug off his claustrophobic tendencies but otherwise zzz

― maura, Thursday, June 10, 2021 3:36 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

more like borde

idk why people keep trying to re-write "freedom 90," they know we can listen to the actual "freedom 90" whenever we want, right?

I don't hear "Freedom! '90" at all in this but my first thought when I heard this was "yvan eht nioj" from the Simpsons despite barely any resemblance so I guess that says more about me than the song

i immediately heard "freedom 90" too and then it goes further and further in that direction

It feels like a very self-conscious attempt to write a "summer anthem."

feels more like a rebranding than an attempt to write an anthem/hit

Isn't Freedom 90 just a rewrite of "Feelin Alright" anyways?

finally heard it, pleasant but uneventful, for whatever reason i do not like listening to lorde sing

Anyways, my first go to points of reference ended up being Natalie Imbruglia's Wish I Was There or Sheryl Crow, but with more modern minimal arrangement/production/mixing akin to Billie Eilish or something from the last Haim album.

weird to attribute a "Freedom '90" sound to a person who has never shown interest in that sound

Agree with MarkoP, that’s more or less the same comparison I thought of, specially imbruglia

Oh forget it chorus just came on, it definitely sounds like freedom now.

I dont want a languid summer banger after the past year i want to get rawed

Jimmy hi

radiates high key theater kid energy

There’s someone I want you to meet.
Her feet are bare at all times. She’s sexy, playful, feral, and free. She’s a modern girl in a deadstock bikini, in touch with her past and her future, vibrating at the highest level when summer comes around. Her skin is glowing, her lovers are many. I’m completely obsessed with her, and soon you will be too.

It’s my divine pleasure to be introducing you, at long last, to my third studio album, SOLAR POWER.

wait is that real

maybe she will be a character like Marina used to do and Lorde will murder her at the end of the album

let her live that fantasy

comparisons to "freedom 90" and "brighter than the sun" have already killed my interest in this immediately, not that i rly like lorde much anyway

Let her be, she’s 24 and used to people praising every thing she writes. I’m in for midsommar Lorde.

But yeah that write-up is lame

I thought this stunk

it's fine but it's no "green light"

Oh forget it chorus just came on, it definitely sounds like freedom now.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, June 10, 2021 8:34 PM bookmarkflaglink

Yeah, I spent the first 2:00 thinking "yeah, I guess it's roughly the same tempo as "Freedom 90 but what are people talking about" and then the drums and bg vocal melody kicked in. Not that this fact makes me inclined to listen to it again.

I'll still fuck with Green Light tho

Thought it sounded like “moving on up”. There is a weird structure to it - totally horizontal and never goes anywhere. It’s like an arty version of a late 90s CD single.

it has a pretty clear build to it? if anything i think it's too slow to get going

I hope the new album has some Happy Mondays influences as well.

Also, in the cover art for the single, is she straight-up flashing vadge?

all of you except brad pls stop posting

She’s a modern girl in a deadstock bikini,

Did...did an Instagram ad write this?

I would like this more had Olivia Rodrigo sung it

Or Nina Sky

NYT profile to promote Melodrama pointed out that she doesn't play an instrument as it is traditionally understood, which I thought was interesting…if there is anything that you can point to as her purely musical signature, it is surely that, initially via whatever Logic-type software she would have learned in 2011, 2012, she can do vocal arrangements without Jack antonoff or whoever… and that quality is very much evidenced here… also, there can be little doubt that BIllie E was hugely into her…

The 10-year-old hated this (but her complaint was that it sounded like Olivia Rodrigo who she also hates)

Xpost: she doesn't play an instrument as it is traditionally understood, but she is very much the primary composer of her music…she's a good dancer…

the eternal singer's lament, where people don't think of you as a musician because you make music entirely with your body

Do many pop singers play instruments? I wouldn’t have assumed so

No but I think "singer/songwriter" is a different mental category for most listeners than "pop singer"

pic.twitter.com/WeD0JkeKgL

— jetski🐬 (@jetski0) June 11, 2021

feels like the drummer was stuck in traffic until most of this is finished, and they should maybe re-record with them there from the start?

anyway this is far more Soak Up The Shine than Freedom 90... it may even be the same chord progression?

*Soak Up The Sun

people keep naming all these songs w/ huge memorable hooks as comparison points, not really doing this song any favors

Somehow reminds me of post-peak Beck.

Lorde says the unconscious “blueprint” was a Primal Scream song (“Loaded”)—she even reached out for Gillespie’s “blessing” after recording it.

i heard "loaded" too, not "freedom" as much at first.

i think the song is fine idk. the cover art is bad i think.

like too lowest common denominator, an obvious nod to "cheeky" tik tok videos which is a depressing reference point to me.

butts are valid

fine i guess. it just seems like a very zeitgeisty body part.

you cracked the case

the press statement brad posted is really cringey too. i like the loaded/freedom rhythm though and the horn part that comes in near the end.

maybe i'm jealous that i'm not feral and free and vibrating at the highest level when summer comes around. all criticism is autobiography.

lmao x-post

xp I do detect a taint of external factors in your reaction.

when i first saw the single art it was posted without any context and i assumed it was some rare brazilian 70s lp

treeship if it makes you feel better, it's winter in New Zealand

She’s allowed to be 24 ffs

when i first saw the single art it was posted without any context and i assumed it was some rare brazilian 70s lp

― flopson, Saturday, June 12, 2021

Me too! Especially since I've been jamming Jorge Ben lately.

this song sucks btw

Still waiting for the hook.

saw it move

not listened yet, gonna wait and see if I encounter it in the course of life, seeming doubtful?

the comparisons to "Freedom '90" are freaking me out, first because "Freedom '90" is one of the most buoyant songs ever written, secondly because it has a pulse.

xp At this point, I fear it will be difficult for you to listen without prejudice.

This song is neither particularly good nor memorable. I was trying to think how it compared to the new Billie Eilish, but that song was not very good or memorable, either, so I couldn't remember it.

The coda sounds really similar to "At the Holiday Party" from the last St. Vincent record.

I feel like post-Fall Asleep Billie can get across a just-OK song on the strength of her performance alone, in a way that Lorde (despite being an artistic forerunner) can’t.

I agree w/ that

the comparisons to "Freedom '90" are freaking me out, first because "Freedom '90" is one of the most buoyant songs ever written, secondly because it has a pulse.

― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, June 12, 2021 4:55 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

it tries to do the thing that freedom does. it fails.

it starts a little sultry and downtempo and then the "freedom"/"loaded" section is meant to be like a moment of catharsis when it kicks in at the 2:00 mark. i don't think it's really supposed to be joyful all the way through like freedom '90.

honestly, all current music seems to have at least some trace of gloom.

honestly, all current music seems to have at least some trace of gloom.

― treeship., Saturday, June 12, 2021 8:13 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

same, or maybe it's me.

i think the intro part (up to “im kinda like a prettier jesus”) is good and tantalizing but it needed to soar into a killer hook, instead everything from then on just falls flat

also, music video is terrible

I def got "Freedom '90" vibes before I read that everyone else did, too. But it sounds so anemic by comparison.

even the quiet part has the same sort of melodic lilt to it

would be a much better song if the quiet part only lasted the first verse at most

IMO, the blissed-out groove part doesn’t know what to do with itself when it hits (other than end with a few bars of obligatory-sounding horns toward the end); so bringing it in earlier wouldn’t solve the problem.

Just checked out the Primal Scream track—and, I mean, yeah (not that it’s a masterpiece either).

Oh, “Loaded” is a remix of an earlier song? How deep does this rabbit hole go, lol

if you've never heard screamadelica before you really should check it out asap

the groove on "solar power" is a little anemic for what it wants to be so yeah it wouldn't fix everything but it'd be a step in the right direction. it's very easy to imagine how this song could have been quite a decent early 90s pastiche thing instead of being only ok.

idk if the cult leader vibes of the lyrics/video are endearingly goofy or completely off-putting though

Yeah, I don’t know anything about Primal Scream (except the ILM “Bullshit Game” thread)—but I just learned on Wikipedia that Mayo Thompson produced their first album(!), so I distract myself with a few tracks from that.

I heard "Sympathy for the Devil" in the descending melody lines, which I guess is the DNA for "Loaded" and "Movin' on Up" anyway.

the cover art of this is an EXACT ripoff of some 70s album cover and it's driving me nuts I can't remember

some band like Free or Traffic etc

Yes thank God for Twitter

Loving Lorde's subtle homage to Free's s/t 1969 album. pic.twitter.com/aFUbcdMido

— Dave Segal (@editaurus) June 11, 2021

some Free cover connection going on here..

🖼

🖼

But seriously looking forward to new Lorde, loved that last album so much.

to be more precise:

some Free cover connection going on here..

https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2021/06/lorde-solar-power-1623098760-1000x1000.jpeg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/Free_albumcover.jpg

But seriously looking forward to new Lorde, loved that last album so much.

― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), maandag 7 juni 2021 23:51

ok

Free cover connections! Come and get 'em while supplies last.

yikes, i haven't listened to lorde in a long time but this really sucks! 😬

I know this is ILX and all but I find it funny how much thought and theorizing and research/googling is going into a song that barely justifies its running time

the real joke is when it places in the eoy 77

should I listen to this y/n?

it's ok

it's the season of the lorde, you have to listen to it

it pairs well with an summer shandy. look for UFO Big Squeeze on your local market's shelves!

now let's get down to it: how are we all making money today?

should I listen to this y/n?

― trap door to hell opens underneath (rob), Sunday, 13 June 2021 16:43 (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

you aren't even part of the cultural discourse until you hear this and offer a take

are any of you WORTH anything? can any of you increase my wealth? if not, i'm going back to the beach, it's lorde season

I listened and here's my take: Lorde looks a lot like a young Michelle Gomez

i listened to it and it is really quite a bit better than i expected. it does truly threaten to cross into some of the same awful territory as some of its comparison points noted above but for me i think it does stay on the acceptable side

I know this is ILX and all but I find it funny how much thought and theorizing and research/googling is going into a song that barely justifies its running time

― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Sunday, June 13, 2021 9:12 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

the rest of the internet is doing this way more than we are

has this thread even touched on the potential social commentary of the video... ugh...........

doing something that sucks on purpose is subversive man

that's the first set of posts so far to almost tempt me into checking it out tbf

"has this thread even touched on the potential social commentary of the video... ugh..........."

was there social commentary in the video? I barely paid attention to it.

A very clunky, calculated attempt at being an early contender for Song Of The Summer that doesn’t quite land.

“I throw my cellular device in the water” line is really weird. Strong Boomer energy there. Either that, or I’m so out of touch that Gen Z are now calling their phones or iPads or whatever “cellular devices”.

Loaded was also the song I first thought of when hearing it, and then there was one other similar sounding song that had been on the tip of my mind-tongue for a couple of days and I just realised it’s Take Your Mama by Scissor Sisters.

xp maybe that term is meant to highlight a phone’s “cold” artificially, or something?

dropped my cellphone down below
I’m so high it makes my brain whirl

Wasn't there another recent song that nodded to "Loaded?" Vampire Weekend?

finally listened to this.
bit crap isn't it?

xp yeah vampire weekend's "harmony hall"

why has she stopped singing fairly well and adopted the annoying affectations of a thousand much worse singers?

finally watched/listened

it's nicely mixed I guess? her voice is really not suited to this sort of hook at all and the takeoff is completely botched

did not detect any politics whatsoever in the song or video tbh

Simon H, politics detector

when she rejects the golden horn she's obviously eschewing the gold standard in favor of cryptocurrency

no wonder she's also endorsing solar power

i am curious why this hits some kind of must-hear tipping point that other pop stars dont. Whats with the lorde crossover that didnt happen w like idk ... selena gomez? To me the pop songs doja cat is putting out are much better and she's a much more engaging pop performer on other levels too.

and its not like we DONT talk about that stuff. but this lorde song was like a 'broke the internet' type moment everyone was talking about and i dont really get it -- even prior to the song being underwhelming i dont get it

i think part of it is that she just doesn't release music that often

Yeah, she's a major artist and it's been four years since her last thing.

riding a wave of goodwill from the last one, New Jersey style

I also think it was designed to be Zeitgeist-y, and obv pulled it off.

(despite being not-great)

cover art playing into that as well

it's more than that, i get what deej is saying. she appeals to a... certain set of ppl who tweet a lot because she seems cool, approachable, like she could be friends w/ music writers, but is (or was at one point) also an A-list pop star. there is a perception of authenticity (both as a personality and musically) that drives enthusiasm about her w/in a certain discursive bubble. that authenticity used to be matched by the wider world circa "royals," but generally speaking on a global A list level the world has moved on but music writers in the rock critic lineage have hung on. it's funny for lorde to "break the internet" (music writer twitter) at the same time as ppl go thru another round of poptimist handwringing bcuz lorde is in essence a pop star who is flattered by attributes we associate w/ rockism. it's pretty easy to see

lorde has established some sort of auteur pop cred (probably a little undeservingly she's not that interesting imo) & melodrama was generally really well-received critically and by online pop nerds even if it was a commercial flop

i thought her debut album was pretty bad, but there was the same level of excitement around melodrama and then it at least kind of delivered?

can we put "less engaging that Doja Cat" on the sticker for the eventual album

You guys may v well be right (and are obv plugged into this stuff), tho I also don't think any random comeback single by her would have had the same "impact." There's something specific to this song and (yes) the cover art.

It's a Whole Vibe™

are you still talking about the cover art or

I can tell you that my daughters (15 and 19) revere Lorde as a young auteur with integrity, in the pantheon with Mitski and Billie Eilish. They’ve been waiting for this return for 4 years and are deeply underwhelmed.

There's something specific to this song

i guess there's very much a feeling of wasted potential to it? that makes it a little more interesting to discuss than if it had just been a bland failure or something. or more of the same in a decent but uninteresting way

but... it is just a bland failure, the issue is because it's LORDE people are acting confused about her putting out a boring song as a single instead of burying it on the back half of the album

xp I agree - we've certainly gotten a lot of mileage here out of discussing how it sort of reaches and fails, its relation to similar & more "successful" tracks, etc.

Mitski rules

"Stoned at the Nail Salon"

"secrets from a girl (who's seen it all)"

Wut

According to a press release, as an alternative to being released on CD, Solar Power will be available as “an eco-conscious Music Box,” which has visual content, handwritten notes, photos, and a download card. “I decided early on in the process of making this album that I also wanted to create an environmentally kind, forward-thinking alternative to the CD,” Lorde said in a statement. “I wanted this Music Box product to be similar in size, shape and price to a CD, to live alongside it in a retail environment, but be something which stands apart and that’s committed to the evolving nature of a modern album.”

I mean I wouldn’t buy it anyway, but digital download sucks ass.

the download card gives you a link to Mariah's Music Box instead

theoretically i love this idea and would love for someone to do something interesting with it, but ultimately lol @ $22 for a box full of paper

Sounds like what Biophilia Records has been doing for several years. (They send out CD-Rs as promos, though, which kinda subverts the point.)

this isn't a bad idea honestly, j-pop and k-pop artists already incentivize their fans to buy their physical media by including collectible items, lorde is just taking it a step further by removing the physical media lol

is $22 a high price for what's essentially a scrapbook, sure, but it does price in the cost of the digital album as well.

tbh it has grown on me since i made fun of it

When an artist big enough to still sell physical media decides only to sell MP3s, I fear it further normalizes/promotes the devaluing of audio quality. But sadly I may be fighting a losing battle there.

making out you're ecologically friendly by selling and shipping any sort of physical media is charlatanry of a profound order lmao

what if it's all made from bamboo

does this music box include the chapbook that dude from Animal Collective was supposed to make about his trip to Mali

It’s like when Richard D. James did an NFT thing a few months ago, and wrote about how he would maybe give some money to a tree-related charity, if he could find one, mumble mumble

even if made from bamboo it needs to be distributed by bicycle courier or else it's bullshit

or tie in 'solar power' and distribute them all by photovoltaic drone

the fact lorde passed up THAT opportunity reveals herself as the creatively bankrupt dickhead we know her to be

as mockable as the idea is, we're in "you're using an iPhone to text about climate change???" territory and we should avoid that tbh

we're in 'she said she was doing it to be ecologically friendly, lol' territory tbf

imago otm, she's selling a product not speaking out politically

Melodrama's vinyl release lagged the digital release by almost a year... I couldn't be bothered with it by that point. That was pretty eco conscious of her.

When an artist big enough to still sell physical media decides only to sell MP3s, I fear it further normalizes/promotes the devaluing of audio quality. But sadly I may be fighting a losing battle there.

Don't know what Lorde is doing but the Biophilia people sell downloads in the format of your choice. FLAC, WAV, whatever.

it's all solar power, really. some of it just goes through inefficient processes that make the energy easier to store and transport, also releasing byproducts that increase the mean temperature of Earth and change the climate. So is she really even a hypocrite? think about it.

if they're actually handwritten notes, it's a good idea. just sell all your scrap paper.

i don't think it's a bad song really but "solar power" could be redeemed by a remix... or it could also become legendarily awful. either way i want to see it happen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_A20lBsBMM

Stoned at the nail salon

Was just listening to this; I think it's nice...

(p-fork with the neg, lol)

it's an ok enough album track but nothing to be excited about

It’s super weak as a single assuming this is even a single.

i'm assuming it's the thing pop artists often do where they put out an album track for buzz without intending to give it a big radio push? idk

Not sure how “singles” are even supposed to work in 2021 tbh

Turns out Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo both guest on it (I didn’t even register other vox)

they did backing vocals on "solar power" too

sub-LDR

Boring tune, sadly.

I also think the “all the music you loved when you’re 16 you’ll grow out of” line sticks out to me as a particularly bad one, partly because it’s trying to pass itself off as wisdom, but comes across as naive. And mostly because it makes me cringe out of recognition. It’s the exact sort of thing I know I would’ve said at Lorde’s age, as I tried to convince myself I had grown up, become an adult and left anything that could be considered childish. And now I keep getting older and I realise I absolutely love the shit out of the music I loved when I was 16, but with an even deeper intensity because of the memories that I’ve accumulated related to it over the years.

lorde probably thinks that line is well clever and deliciously ironic or something

We'll always have the beach

I still like most of the music I liked when I was 16.

Past Lorde albums are very consistent in terms of sound palette and moods and this seems to be on par. This time I guess she’s going for a “campfire on the beach” vibe which I don’t mind and could be the laying ground for some great music but so far the two songs released sound very unremarkable to me.

have been trying to work out what I don't like about her new stuff and think I've finally figured it out.

https://i.postimg.cc/dVp69wYQ/Screen-Shot-2015-11-09-at-7-12-14-PM-thumb-png-521ae0913e2f6741ad3df0f04008c56a.png

Pretty much!

"all the music you loved when you're 16 and you now think you've grown out of you'll grow out of thinking you grew out of"

my response to this song is “what’s so amazing about really deep thoughts”

"all the music you loved when you're 16 and you now think you've grown out of you'll grow out of thinking you grew out of"

Well, pretty much my experience. Maybe she'll get there someday too

Haven't heard this new song yet, but when I saw the title it really struck me as her desperately trying to write a Lana Del Rey song.

Turns out Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo both guest on it (I didn’t even register other vox)

Phoebe Bridgers is this year's Pitbull: T/F?

Watching Lorde day drink with Seth Meyers was p funny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krYT0dRihbk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P103bWMdvtA

i like this one more, successfully leans into its vibe better than the other two. still suspect the album is going to be kinda dull though

It sounds just like the first one!

lorde is very bad

So far this album seems like some long-form ironic takedown of Goop or something. Does she think that qualifies as trenchant commentary?

lol

based on the influences they're attempting to tap into i should like some of this stuff but none of it is hitting for me at all. i'm not a huge lorde fan to begin w/ but i liked a handful of songs off melodrama a good deal, these tracks feel lifeless though

Same. I still hum "Homemade Dynamite" and "The Louvre."

Melodrama feeling like a miracle right now

Disagree. Pure Heroine was great too. Though I agree that the new songs are bad.

the only one of the new songs i really like is "mood ring" but they're still largely better than anything from pure heroine

Totally agree on the flatness of all three of these songs. Disappointing. Fortunately lots of other people are making good albums this year, maybe next time Lorde.

i like it

it reminds me of janet's "someone to call my lover" except more subdued, it works well

oh I got TLC's "Unpretty" from it, except even more bad

oh goodness "someone to call my lover" is so much more dynamic than this, it actually has like... a beat. even "unpretty" is more interesting texturally

oh yeah it's much more dynamic but just the lush vibe

i like some jack antonoff produced albums but i don't think of him as someone who elevates artists via his production, specifically, if that makes sense

like, jimmy jam and terry lewis, to use one example (lol), were (are) genius musicians full stop. i think even major jack antonoff defenders wouldn't hone in on his musicianship or musical ideas as what he brings to the table. reading quotes from the artists he works with, it's all about the ease and comfort he allows for in the studio, who he is as a person, it seems like he has more personal connections w/ his artists than he does musical ones. so tho i i do think the production is a problem w/ these songs, he's never really gonna blow you away in that department one way or another. i would describe a lot of his productions on a musical level as like... functional. supportive. i feel like a better, more genius musician could've done something to these songs that really would've given them some oomph. they're missing some juice to me, something i can sink my teeth into, but that's not a quality i really associate w/ jack antonoff production, even on songs/albums i love (chemtrails over the country club, lots of his taylor swift collabs)

it's interesting looking back at melodrama how much of it had co production by frank dukes, kuk harrell, malay ... even flume and t minus have co production credits. all guys who have extensive experience in rap, R&B, and pop production. i think you can really feel that element missing from these songs in a way that doesn't flatter them at all

i would love to hear "mood ring" as filtered thru t minus or flume or whoever, you might actually get something that approximates "someone to call my lover"

i think he's decent at fleshing out the visions of the artists he works with, but doesn't really bring much character of his own to the table most of the time. that usually ends up with pleasantly tasteful arrangements, with the only times his production has sounded bad to me being most of his work on reputation and a little bit of lover, but i figure he shares the blame with taylor there for some of those dreadful synth sounds, i really have no idea what they were thinking.

sometimes this approach does give really good results (his work with lana & his better work with taylor) but i don't think it's ever going to lead to more than just a more refined version of what the artists were already capable of at best?

on some of his earlier productions ("out of the woods" and a few others) you can hear his own taste come through more, sounding not too far from his solo work, but that doesn't really happen anymore

i also wanna hear that hypothetical "mood ring" remix, it could certainly have been much more exciting, but i think it succeeds on its own terms as pleasantly chill background music, unlike "solar power" which ends up deciding it wants to be anthemic way too late leaving it feeling confused & anemic overall?

sounds like Antonoff (about whose working methods I knew not at all) is like Jimmy Iovine.

antonoff is a lot more hands-on than someone like iovine though, being heavily involved in the songwriting & performance on top of the technical expertise & general guidance that someone like iovine provides

When I hear these songs in department store five years from now, I wonder if it will it be Kohl's or Nordstrom Rack?

Lyrics to this one are pretty much Aja.

Antonoff sounds a bit like Jeff Lynne.

Not feeling any of the singles tbh. Don’t hate them either but there’s something missing for me. It’s frustrating because “mood ring” is actually dangerously close to hitting hard a soft spot for 90’s nostalgia but it misses the mark.

I actually really like this one.

And for what it’s worth, Unpretty is a great song.

it's all about the ease and comfort he allows for in the studio

I believe this is called "the hang," and I assume it's why a lot of busy producers get a lot of work from pop/rock stars. It's their personality as much as their particular skills. That said, the recent Tape Op interview with Antonoff was great, he's just a nice guy and a nerd that knows a lot about making music. He's no Iovine, who has a sort of tough-love bully reputation. Jeff Lynne might indeed be a good example: like Lynne, Antonoff productions neither rock nor rock the boat, but they serve their purposes and typically suit their stars.

Re: this new Lorde stuff specifically, I could have sworn I saw a (rightfully) defensive interview with her a couple of days ago where she stressed Antonoff did everything he could to aid her vision, and that everything on the record was the way it was because she wanted it that way and he helped her get there. Compare that to someone like, sure, Jam & Lewis, where they're more clearly the creative drivers, with others hitching their respective talents to the Jam & Lewis train.

I hear Unpretty but I also hear some Natalie Imbruglia… guitar pop from the late 90’s is definitely a frame of reference in that song.

Reviews are pouring in. They’re sort or mixed.

Lazy to do a copy paste of each but here’s the thread on the popheads subreddit with links:

https://www.reddit.com/r/popheads/comments/p7egt7/lorde_solar_power_album_reviews/

amazing flex to hire matt chamberlain and barely use him

Hahaha same thought, just found out he was involved in this.

Lynne's a musician, though, an artist in his own right -- closer to Eno. Iovine like Rubin doesn't play instruments and is known for good ears.

but antonoff is a musician and an artist in his own right

I'm not comparing Lynne and Antonoff -- I compared him to Iovine and Rubin.

wait, Robyn does a corny spoken word cameo on this?

"fallen fruit" is pretty good imo

Dancing with my girls, only having two drinks, then leaving
It's a funny thing, never thought you’d gain self control

i still find the lyrical position of this album like super obnoxious

"the path" and "solar power" resemble each other so much that it's like the album begins twice. "california" and "stoned" are the worst two songs on the record for me, the latter's "i've got nothing to say, and that's ok" attitude reflects poorly on the project

i also keep longing for any kind of textural variation in this record to give me a sense of, idk, flow, instead of what it does, which is mostly sunbathe in one spot. i even like some of the songs that are so soft they're on the verge of disappearance, "man with the axe" especially, but it's part of a suite of songs that are all super quiet and yearning

"mood ring" is actually a highlight in that context in that it suddenly reminds me of, oh yeah, nelly furtado's folklore, which i appreciate being reminded of. "oceanic feeling" strikes me as what more of this record should've sounded like, but even that's only remarkable for how loose the song structure is, getting sort of dubby and ambient at the end, but even this is like not really quite enough for me. i feel like if it just... stretched out a little further... it could almost do a john martyn "small hours" thing, but it doesn't. maybe that's the wrong angle to regard this album from, but idk, it's also stoned beach music

idk why i felt the need to weigh in on this record other than i felt like a hater and didn't want to be an uninformed hater

i still find the lyrical position of this album like super obnoxious

― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson)

It's a flyspeck, but the POV shift in these lines annoys me.

there are a few good ideas on here but it's way too mellow overall and i wish it actually did anything with those ideas

like if the whole album had gone in on the balearic ambience of "oceanic feeling" instead of mostly forgettable very mellow 70s folk stuff it could have been great

Listening to the album now for the second time and while there are no particular stand out tracks (so far), it's got a pleasant vibe imo.

I had the weird comparison pop into my head that Lorde’s music career is hitting half of the plot beats from Mean Girls (“outsider” shows up, gets elevated to popularity, sheds the things that made them interesting in the first place and turns into the new iteration of the popular) and I can’t stop thinking about it

Yes it’s a stretch and falls apart on closer look, I know this already but I can’t stop giggling about the surface comparison

Are we sure she’s not being ironic with this? Solar Power seemed super-sarcastic to me.

she went out of her way to describe "mood ring" as satire

a lot of reviews are like "satire that resembles the real thing isn't satire," which is extremely untrue, but imo the writing isn't strong enough to make the satire function anyway

She's often hard to read, and while I often blame myself Lorde proves the exception. "Royals" still confounds me.

also the satire just sort of stops at "haha isn't this woo-woo new age healer ridiculous and caught in some kind of grief cycle that they're using nonsense to cope with." knowing that lorde is doing this doesn't improve the song for me and instead cuts off any emotional connection i could have with it xp

Brad OTM; it doesn't really matter if it's satire if it's also bad

I guess that’s true in terms of issuing a verdict on the album, I’m not postmodern enough to think it doesn’t matter at all.

a lot of reviews are like "satire that resembles the real thing isn't satire," which is extremely untrue, but imo the writing isn't strong enough to make the satire function anyway

i think it's more that she doesn't feel distant enough from what she's satirising in the first place, like her public persona is already hippie-ish enough that it'd be easy to believe she was getting super into new age wellness nonsense for real?

so y'all are saying it would be better if she leaned into it and was earnest about this goopery

absolutely not

Even if it’s ironic, going after instragramming goopers seems lazy. The world is a target-rich environment for satire and disdain, many of whom are way worse than hot girls.

Pandemic pop has really sucked.

my daughter reckons it's a fake-out and she's going to drop something deep and dark soon

glad the kids are keeping the secret second album conspiracies going

Even if it’s ironic, going after instagramming goopers seems lazy. The world is a target-rich environment for satire and disdain, many of whom are way worse than hot girls.

Yeah, she's satirizing something that really doesn't need satirizing, and doing it in a way that feels both heavy-handed and inadequate (she says it's an indictment of white people co-opting indigenous traditions, but the song barely touches on that.) I feel like this is Lorde's "57 Channels and Nothin' On." Like, oh no, I'm a rich person living in a bubble and I can't think of anything to write about, so here, let me "satirize" a bunch of tired pop culture shit that everyone already knows is dumb.

Also I keep getting stuck on the fact that mood rings are children's toys; is there some expensive Goop version of a mood ring that I don't know about?

What's confusing is that "Mood Ring" was clearly satirical, but the earlier two songs (which had the same sound/vibe/theme) didn't seem to be? Idk - I haven't listened to the rest of the album and probably won't.

there was an element of it to "solar power", just not as directly

oh no, I'm a rich person living in a bubble and I can't think of anything to write about

This is half of pop music now.

that's not really anything new either

there was an element of it to "solar power", just not as directly

― ufo, Friday, 20 August 2021 23:58 (yesterday) link

idk she intro’d it with… ‘There’s someone I want you to meet.
Her feet are bare at all times. She’s sexy, playful, feral, and free. She’s a modern girl in a deadstock bikini, in touch with her past and her future, vibrating at the highest level when summer comes around. Her skin is glowing, her lovers are many. I’m completely obsessed with her, and soon you will be too.
‘

yeah that just goes to show how muddled it is lol

the stuff that read to me that way in "solar power" was "i'm kinda like a prettier jesus" and the whole video

I thought the “prettier Jesus” thing was her paying tribute to a fan meme

just made my own Solar Power sequence:

Leader of a New Regime
The Path
Solar Power
Secrets from a Girl (Who's Seen It All)
California
Mood Ring
Fallen Fruit
Dominoes
Big Star
Stoned at the Nail Salon
The Man With The Axe
Oceanic Feeling

actually, I'd probably make "Stoned" a hidden track at the end of "Oceanic Feeling"

New EP in... maori !

Indeed, and this article about it is a must read

https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/09-09-2021/lorde-interview-maori-lyrics-solar-power/

and this one - https://www.thebigidea.nz/stories/tokenism-in-full-force-my-take-on-lordes-album

Lorde just told the crowd at the Anthem that she swam??? In the Potomac??? To get a feel for D.C???? The crowd is in SHAMBLES

— natalie escobar 🎷🐛 (@_NatalieEscobar) August 30, 2022

Possibly one of the wildest things I’ve heard of being said on a stage here.

LOL I love her pic.twitter.com/TtmpuQ2DaS

— Jimmy (@jimmyeppley) August 30, 2022

Maybe next time she wants to appreciate the local waterways, someone could take her around the Anacostia Community Boathouse.

lol

In between songs, the singer reminisced about the themes of each of her three albums, noting that Pure Heroine “was about not being a teenager,” Melodrama “was about a boy,” and Solar Power is “about the climate.”