Art by SARABETH HUANG
Text by ANYA MONDRAGON
Praise the Lorde D
ALBUM “SOLAR POWER” EXPLORES NEW STYLE
ANCING ON A BEACH IN a flowing yellow skirt, Lorde projects enthusiasm and joy. Behind gold-patterned sunglasses, she basks in the sunlight, singing, “I hate the winter, can’t stand the cold.” This adjective scene is a powerful moment from her music video for “Solar Power,” the title track of her newest album released in August. Lorde wrote “Royals,” her most streamed song on Spotify, when she was 16 years old. On Aug. 20, over seven years after the debut of “Royals,” she released “Solar Power,” a pivot from the music she has released in the past. This newest album is bright, mellow and less radio-friendly, although her breathy whisper-like singing on the track “Solar Power” can still be found on some stations intended for trendy coffeehouses. The change in her sound has not gone unnoticed by fans. Junior Jonathan Wang started listening to Lorde around the release of her 2017 album “Melodrama.” He would not pick “Solar Power” as his favorite Lorde album and said he believes it is less poignant than the music Lorde released when she was a teenager. “I feel like ‘Melodrama’ was the most relatable, even ‘Pure Heroine’ was more relatable because it was dealing with things like adolescence,” Wang said. “[Solar Power] is different. But you know, it’s still good.” Sophomore Anna Van Riesen said she
40 OCTOBER 2021
also picked up on the change. ible drummer work on this album,” Lorde “I think [‘Solar Power’] might connect wrote. “He [Matt Chamberlain] really to a different audience [than teenagers] brought this album to life.” , the same audience as before, but now Many mainstream songs today have they’ve grown up,” Van Riesen said. “The extraneous noise that can make it difficult people who are her age and her first fans for a casual listener to pick out separate elewhen she appeared in 2014 are probably ments, but “Solar Power” begins with Lorde mid-twenties now. She is singing about her quietly singing and sounds of an acoustic life, but she’s older than us and has had dif- guitar. In the final chorus, Lorde sings the ferent life experiences.” song title with backing vocals from wellWith “Solar Power,” Lorde succeeds in known indie artists Phoebe Bridgers and exploring a range of topics from climate Clairo. Listening to the song evokes imagchange to summer ery of stepping out fun to losing a pet, There’s still ... dark, or at into the sunlight all to the tune of and slowly warmbright and contem- least intense topics in this ing up to enjoy a plative music. Her album, but it’s just a difsummer day. sound has changed As the first sinsince the first al- ferent kind of vibe of mu- gle released before bum she recorded sic [than her old music]. ” her album came at sixteen, but her out, “Solar Pow— ANNA VAN RIESEN, sophomore er” shocked many new music stands strong on its own. fans of Lorde’s On “Stoned at the previous work. Nail Salon,” Lorde sings, “All the music you Neither of her first two albums, “Pure Herloved at sixteen, you’ll grow out of.” oine” or “Melodrama,” could be described in any given moment as joyful, while “So"Solar Power" lar Power” spends considerable time in According to Spotify’s Storyline feature, that realm. But the melancholy of many of Lorde relies more on her backing instru- Lorde’s earlier songs has not been completements on this album than ever before. No- ly left behind. where is that more clear than on her song “Solar Power.” "Stoned at the Nail Salon" “We were really lucky to have an incredVaguely reminiscent of “Ribs,” a
“
