Hello world! I am beyoooond thrilled about this one, oh boy have I been waiting long enough for this album to drop!!! Yes, ‘Solar Power’ by Lorde is here, out NOW on all streaming platforms and music stores! When the rumours of her possible return in summer 2021 began I remember being ecstatic to say the least as she is one of those artists I have really missed for the last 4 years. So without any further ado, let’s just jump into this album review and analysis!
Just as a quick intro to the artist, should you be unfamiliar with Lorde: she is a singer and songwriter, from New Zealand, 25 years old, with a very distinct and unique vision of Pop music. Her best works (‘Pure Heroin’ 2013, ‘Melodrama’ 2017) won world-wide recognition and multiple NO.1’s across the boards. Lorde’s signature is her songwriting style. It is often classified as ‘indie’ as her work does not necessarily fit the current pop mould that we hear all the time on charts and radios. Being an extremely young artist, she is now 25 and extremely mature, accomplished, and loved, however her life and experience of it are not always what people expect or think. That is what Lorde excels at: she mostly writes about personal life’s experiences, creating music that reflects her POV and her ways of sharing them with the rest of the world.
‘Solar Power’ was released only a few days prior to this article, 20th August 2021. I wanted to take a few days to really listen to it more than a few times and let every track sink in before gathering all my thoughts for this post. After all, this is a Lorde’s album, so it is not going to impress or grab you right away on the first listen unless you’re already a die-hard fan or just a really fast-absorber. Let me start by saying this right away: the magic of this album is in the lyrics. And that’s why I needed a couple of days to let it register in my brain. Forty-three minutes of pure emotions wandering through life’s instances, reflection and outcomes. We see the return of Jack Antonoff on the production desk who brings a nice warm pallet of sounds across the whole record, but also gives Lorde space to experiment with vocal layering, vocoders, and many more effects. Instrumentation is quite ‘simple’, and it truly serves the purpose of accompanying the vocals without forcing the sounds on to the listener, rather highlighting the singer’s breathier and lighter tones, the deep and heart-felt lyrics and overall artistry. Everything is tastefully wrapped in bliss and etherealness, bittersweetness too at times. Compared to her previous records, this one definitely brings a new outlook forward and we, as the audience, gain a new perspective when it comes to Lorde’s life and experiences. She keeps maturing and moving forward as an artist in a way that nobody else is really doing at her age really. Although the biggest jump for me was between ‘Pure Hero’ and ‘Melodrama’, this album is now a perfect next step and… makes sense.
This album shows a new side of Lorde; we get to learn what she loves doing in her spare time, where she grew up and what she enjoyed doing, how she sees things now that she’s grown, and she reflects on how everything was a bit too much for her with the fame and social events. She isn’t quite sure where she’ll land next and what moves could be ‘best’ and we get that feeling right away from track number titled ‘The path’. Quoting some of her lyrics from the track: “Now if you’re looking for a saviour, well that’s not me.” There’s uncertainty in her tone and words, but there’s also hope in this newly rediscovered source: the sun. The sun is indeed the theme of the album (which obviously titles it) and it sort of came as a surprise to many (me included) as I always associated Lorde with ‘darkness and night’ rather than sunshine. But as I said, the growth is a process for everybody, and her previous record came from her teenager years which, let’s be honest, are always tough for the majority aren’t they. So with ‘Solar Power’ we enter a new phase, a brighter one but nonetheless concerned. Although concerned in a different way, this record also provides a brighter outlook and possible answers. For Lorde, the sun is now a new source of happiness, freedom. I believe most of the struggles she was going through were tidied to the concept of fame and lack of personal time and general balance she was missing in the previous years. This now seems and feels relieved, alleviated by the sun and the time spent with meaningful people.
As she regains control of her life and goals, the beats and instrumentation get softer, leaving a lot of space for the vocals to shine and resonate as they carry very specific messages. Every track in this album is a door to a moment, a situation and they get very descriptive through all the senses. The listener is then brought forward and made part of the moment, encouraging empathy and reflection. Vocally, Lorde is always feeding us vocal layers and harmonies that are tightly placed in specific moments of a track, gently moving through the bars and progressing alongside the narration. There’s a lot of breathy, light tones, but also moments of more clean and at times creaky ones. The ‘darkness’ of her voice is still in there, just camouflaged behind the higher harmonies. The low-larynx and deeper colour do sometimes peek here and there to remind us her vocal identity and it is a pleasure to hear them as they altogether create a very solid and interesting sound pallet.
Most of the songs feature an indie-pop vibe, some more than others. ‘Fallen Fruit’ perhaps shows elements of country music influences too, although the breakdown at mid-song is very electronic and for a few bars we get suddenly teleported back to those ‘Pure Heroin’ beats and sounds. ‘Stoned at the nail salon’ is also a very interesting track as it features a different time signature, the 6/8 endless waltz. This truly encapsulates the vibe of the lyrics and the overall mood. These are the things I love the most about music; the cleverness of a message that can be shared and conveyed through a variety of different tools, creating a new environment for the ears and mind. What was also really interesting was the intro to ‘Mood Ring’: vocal harmonies filtered through various vocal effects, electric piano and a sweeper/fader slide into the first verse which introduces clear vocals and acoustic guitar. Very interesting combination!
Overall, this is an insanely good album. It is definitely not what the majority of people and fans were expecting (including me too, sort of) however I welcomed it with open arms because this is the work SHE wanted to create to feel good and be proud of, and it was beautifully executed. There’s growth, melancholia, positivity, nostalgia, hopefulness and love in this album and I encourage you all to take a listen, maybe a couple of times even, and experience the journey in your own time. See you next month!
‘SOLAR POWER’ IS NOW AVAILABLE ON ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS, GO CHECK IT OUT!