In 2013, Ella Yelvich O'Connor of New Zealand entered the music world with her smash hit "Royals" under the stage name Lorde. At just 16, she had a number one hit and "Royals" was played EVERYWHERE for the next year. Her debut album "Pure Heroine," released in 2013 was an incredible pop masterpiece that criticized today's pop culture. After a three-year hiatus, Lorde is back with her sophomore album "Melodrama." Let me tell you, "Melodrama" was worth the wait. Every song on this album is so carefully executed, with Lorde and Jack Antonoff (fun., Bleachers) as executive producers. As it just hit the number one spot on the U.S. charts, "Melodrama" is sure to be the album of the summer.
The album starts off with the lead single, "Green Light," which was released a few months ago to announce the album. Everybody knows this song by now. With "Green Light" we see an immediate shift in Lorde's lyrical material. Most of "Pure Heroine" was about suburban teenage life and a critique of popular culture. Most of "Melodrama" is about relationships, specifically a break up. But a relationship-centric album is not a bad thing. Lorde's interesting lyrics and young age at "Pure Heroine" was what made me intrigued by her, but three years later, she's lived a lot of life, and this breakup seems to be at the forefront. It's incredibly catchy, "I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it" has been heard everywhere this past spring. After hearing the rest of the album, it's not my favorite song but it was a great way to introduce us to what Lorde has been working on.
Next is "Sober," which I can definitely see as a single in the future. The hook, "but what will we do when we're sober?" is so raw and takes a look at the bad parts of this relationship. Behind all the alcohol and partying, what's really going on between Lorde and her lover? There's some incredible trumpets in the chorus that I am LIVING for, something I did not expect from Lorde at all, given her more laid back production and instrumentals. The bridge has some of Lorde's incredible low notes, her vocal performance has definitely improved since she was 16.
Track 3 is "Homemade Dynamite," another song with single-potential. It feels like a typical partying and drinking song but it still has that Lorde charm. There's a lot of cool harmonies Lorde does with her voice on this song, which is seen throughout the whole album, but it definitely stands out here.
Next is "The Louvre." This song has the super catchy line, "broadcast the boom, boom, boom, boom, and make 'em all dance to it." Another song about partying with her ex-lover but there's still this weird darker undertone under it. "Pure Heroine" was a critique on pop music being all about drinking, partying, and sex. But now "Melodrama" includes those things in its subject matter but in a really smart way. These things are part of life as a young 20-something. She's not glorifying partying every night, it's just the backdrop to her life experiences.
Next is "Liability," which was released early and is definitely one of the strongest songs on the album. It's a super raw, emotional piano ballad. She seems to be singing from the point of view of her ex, saying "you're a liability, you're a little much for me." It's incredibly sad, she's basically saying she's too much for people to handle, "so they pull back, make other plans," leaving Lorde alone.
Next is "Hard Feelings/Loveless," which is two songs in one. Altogether it's over 6 minutes long but it doesn't really feel like it. I think the "Hard Feelings" part of this song touches upon the phrase "no hard feelings" and throws that out the window. There are hard feelings. Breakups suck. I love the line "I care for myself the way I used to care about you." Self-care is important!! The song gradually moves into "Loveless" with this really weird screeching noise in the background that's kinda hard to listen to. It sounds like a subway train screeching when it stops too fast. I get why she added it for emotional and symbolic value but it's really harsh. The "Loveless" part says that "we're loveless generation," maybe making a comment about how there's no love anymore?
Next is "Sober II (Melodrama)," a continuation of "Sober." I really like this idea of continuing a song later on in the album. She also does this later on with "Liability." "Sober II" doesn't sound too similar to "Sober" but it seems fitting to make it a continuation. They're entirely separate songs but can be put together. She sort of eludes to "Sober" when she sings "oh how fast the evening passes, cleaning up the champagne glasses," discussing sobering up after a party.
Next is "Writer in the Dark," a slower song that, like "Liability," is also incredibly raw and emotional. She sings "I bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark," basically saying that since she's a songwriter she's going to write about you and all the heartache that comes with it. There's also an incredible string section on this song that I LOVE.
Next is "Supercut." She discusses a supercut in her head of all the good memories of her relationship "but it's just a supercut of us." Those good times aren't there anymore and she's longing for the happy part of her relationship as she's trying to fix it. The song is backed by a fun, pop beat (again, potential single material) to bring the upbeat music back after the emotional rollercoaster that was "Writer in the Dark."
Track 10 is "Liability (Reprise)." A reprise in music is a repetition or a return to the first theme or subject (dictionary.com). Like in "Sober II," Lorde comes back to the themes in "Liability." She probably wanted to emphasize that "Sober" and "Liability" were important songs to her so she wanted to touch upon them twice. I love this idea. This reprise of "Liability" isn't a piano ballad, it's more electronic but it brings back some of the lyrics like "you're a little much for me." It's very short, but I understand why Lorde did it and it definitely has a place on the album.
Last but not least is "Perfect Places," a single Lorde released early, and is her current single. This is going to be the song of the summer. It's another song about partying with these incredible dark undertones that Lorde captures so well. She's saying that all these fun parties bring everyone to perfect places, but what are these perfect places anyway? She's having fun in her youth but life is nowhere near perfect.
Overall, "Melodrama" is an incredible follow-up to "Pure Heroine," and was worth the long wait. Lorde gets a 9/10 from me.
