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
― lex pretend, Friday, 3 March 2017 18:42 (seven years ago) link
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, 3 March 2017 18:46 (seven years ago) link
Distant xpost, but first thing I thought was Kate Bush "Big Sky." Second was Sia's "Cheap Thrills."Anyway. Good first single.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 3 March 2017 18:56 (seven years ago) link
I'll be hearing this 'ever I go, especially the lightup floor and the bedaroom
― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, 3 March 2017 19:00 (seven years ago) link
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, 3 March 2017 19:00 (seven years ago) link
DJP otm
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 March 2017 19:00 (seven years ago) link
― Wimmels, Friday, March 3, 2017
you're right, we shouldn't read or listen to product by people under 21.
― 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
― lex pretend, Friday, 3 March 2017 19:03 (seven years ago) link
― 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
― Wimmels, Friday, 3 March 2017 19:04 (seven years ago) link
I'm not sure what distinguishes teenage emotion from adult emotion except that adults are sillier about it.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 March 2017 19:07 (seven years ago) link
what is meant by "teenage emotion" was defined in the post, and feeling that for 4 minutes while an adult seems obviously attractive
― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, 3 March 2017 19:10 (seven years ago) link
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.
― Rachel Luther Queen (DJP), Friday, 3 March 2017 19:30 (seven years ago) link
I experience teenage emotion whenever I get a new pimple.
― Evan, Friday, 3 March 2017 19:35 (seven years ago) link
I also railed against crushingly boilerplate melodies as a teenager
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Friday, 3 March 2017 19:38 (seven years ago) link
a boilerplate, crushing that teen
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 March 2017 19:39 (seven years ago) link
you should enjoy it when boilerplate melodies are given new life.
― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, 3 March 2017 19:51 (seven years ago) link
we are running out of melodies
― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, 3 March 2017 19:52 (seven years ago) link
suits the songs narrative well tbh
― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, 3 March 2017 19:56 (seven years ago) link
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.
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Friday, 3 March 2017 21:16 (seven years ago) link
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
― albvivertine, Friday, 3 March 2017 21:25 (seven years ago) link
(There should be a "necessarily" in there but I was trying hard to not just say "Grow up", so)
― albvivertine, Friday, 3 March 2017 21:28 (seven years ago) link
i have heard this song twice and really couldn't be more satisfied. can't wait for this album.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 4 March 2017 06:20 (seven years ago) link
Lorde sounds like she's trying to impart profundity to everything she sings, which imo her material doesn't justify
otm
― niels, Saturday, 4 March 2017 07:14 (seven years ago) link
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.
― Matt DC, Saturday, 4 March 2017 11:14 (seven years ago) link
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
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Saturday, 4 March 2017 11:17 (seven years ago) link
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
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Saturday, 4 March 2017 11:20 (seven years ago) link
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
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Saturday, 4 March 2017 11:22 (seven years ago) link
You could just say it's cloying? I mean I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that.
― Matt DC, Saturday, 4 March 2017 11:26 (seven years ago) link
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.
― Matt DC, Saturday, 4 March 2017 11:31 (seven years ago) link
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.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 4 March 2017 14:21 (seven years ago) link
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
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Saturday, 4 March 2017 14:36 (seven years ago) link
i'm with the people here who don't particularly dig the stately piano melodrama of the verses; rest of it is reasonably enjoyable
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Saturday, 4 March 2017 14:37 (seven years ago) link
lmao i just woke up and was unconscious of using the word "melodrama" into that description
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Saturday, 4 March 2017 14:39 (seven years ago) link
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?
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 March 2017 15:00 (seven years ago) link
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
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Saturday, 4 March 2017 15:17 (seven years ago) link
Wrecking Ball is 1000 times better than this.
― “Remember,” he says, “Noddy Holder is a gangster.” (contenderizer), Saturday, 4 March 2017 19:28 (seven years ago) link
My fondness for this song has waned. I still like all the flailing around she does in the video though.
― how's life, Saturday, 4 March 2017 19:32 (seven years ago) link
― “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
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Saturday, 4 March 2017 19:34 (seven years ago) link
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"
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 4 March 2017 19:35 (seven years ago) link
just my opinion, but lorde sucks
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Saturday, 4 March 2017 20:04 (seven years ago) link
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.
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Saturday, 4 March 2017 20:05 (seven years ago) link
― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, March 3, 2017 11:52 AM (yesterday)
Weren't modernist classical composers suggesting this 100 years ago?
― timellison, Saturday, 4 March 2017 20:48 (seven years ago) link
why is this song stuck in my head ffs ffs ffs
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Sunday, 5 March 2017 00:44 (seven years ago) link
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
― boxedjoy, Sunday, 5 March 2017 01:37 (seven years ago) link
― 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
― Van Horn Street, Sunday, 5 March 2017 02:58 (seven years ago) link
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), Sunday, 5 March 2017 04:01 (seven years ago) link
I think it's less what you (and I and etc) might think about taking her seriously and what others do.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 5 March 2017 04:16 (seven years ago) link
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
― monotony, Sunday, 5 March 2017 04:21 (seven years ago) link
― 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
― example (crüt), Sunday, 5 March 2017 04:33 (seven years ago) link