Solar Power - Lorde: Review

Lorde

is a New Zealand based pop singer who became extraordinarily famous at a young age when her single Royals became one of the biggest hits of the 2010's. Since then she has become an almost mythical pop figure who is prone to disappearing completely from the public eye for extended periods of time between album cycles. Adding to this mythos she emerged earlier this year with a lead single denouncing technological dependence accompanied by a music video featuring some slightly cult like imagery.

Review By Lav:

I'm a Lorde bitch. I was a Lorde bitch when I left middle school during Pure Heroine's commercial domination. I was still a Lorde bitch when I graduated high school during a great critical renaissance surrounding her follow-up Melodrama. Now 4 years later I was still incredibly excited to get emails from Lorde about her trip to Antarctica and this was one of my most anticipated albums of the year. After a trio of singles that admittedly have massive meme potential, I was less excited about this as a project. While the music here is incredibly pleasant, thoughtful and sonically cohesive, it fails to take the extra step of her previous work and the best pop albums of the past few years. 

If you're one of the three people on earth who didn't see the Solar Power music video, welcome to your first taste of Lorde's Hot Girl Midsommar cult. As much as she seems to be paying no attention whatsoever to the cult like narrative surrounding her fans and videos, one thing I can't wait a single second longer to say is that the records two shortest tracks Dominoes and Leader Of A New Regime both do nothing but further reinforce this narrative. The reason I'm bringing this all up is that it speaks to just how much of a cultural force Lorde is and how thoroughly influential her every action turns out to be. You should be aware of all this going into the record because Lorde talks about it a LOT. 

Before we get into the things I liked about the album we should quickly go over some of my issues with it, a lot of which has to do with the writing. Lorde spends quite a bit of this album musing on her fame which is occasionally quite prophetic, and sometimes pretty out of touch. The second single Stoned At The Nail Salon is an example of it done right, with her self-reflection feeling meaningful and engaging. Unfortunately the instrumental is incredibly dull and worse, it sounds a LOT like Lana Del Rey's Wild At Heart. In fact everything about this song sounds exactly like Wild At Heart which makes it pretty difficult to dish out praise to Lorde or producer Jack Antonoff. On the flip side there's opening track The Path a breathy, stark cut that sees Lorde reflecting on her fame but also hoping that the sun will show her where to go next. The thing that makes the track slightly unbearable is the teenage caliber astrological wisdom that she passes off like it's Nobel prize worthy. If you're going to listen to an enjoy Solar Power that is just something you have to meet the record halfway on because it's not going anywhere. 

California is the record at its most preachy, but it's one of many songs I have mostly mixed feelings about. Lorde is vocally isolated over the distant instrumental and in the years she's been gone I have to say that her swagger as a singer hasn't faded a bit. Her half spoken vocals continue to keep me holding onto every word. Unfortunately there are lyrics on the track that make me audibly groan every single time I hear them and make it difficult to vibe with the track in the forefront of my mind. Fallen Fruit has similar issues but gets off to a good start as a chill and easy going pop tune with some psychedelic undertones. Lorde is prophesizing hard here with some metaphors that come off as straight up Rupi Kaur grade cheese. The song would be better if it stuck the landing but what it's building up to is just some acoustic strumming and vocal layering that is only slightly more involved than the rest of the track.

The other half of this record that never fails to make me laugh but also makes me slightly sad as a critic is how often Lorde feels like she downplays her legitimate talents as a songwriter to include lyrics that feel like their sole purpose is to be a quirky girls Instagram caption. That's not me saying I'm above any of it by any means since I am after all, not like other girls. But it feels like being pandered to when Lorde says things that we will be seeing on Urban Outfitters t-shirts in a few weeks. The third single Mood Ring is this concept personified. It's yet another bouncy predominately acoustic cut and honestly even with the lyrical deficiencies I could see myself enjoying the song if it had a better hook. The chorus gets off to a strong start and the "sun salutations" refrain has been stuck in my head for a week. But from that point on it turns into a total slog with nothing else even remotely memorable about it. The Man With The Axe delivers more justgirlythings.tumblr.com lyricism but thankfully on a much better song. The instrumental sounds watery as fuck I can't think of any other way to describe it. It sounds like a slowed down Mario water level song that was recorded in a fish tank but I mean that in the best way because it's legitimately entrancing. The song is light on notable refrains as they tend to come and go without much impact but Lorde is at the very least wearing her heart on her sleeve and delivering a solid vibe. 

So yeah, there are some things I don't love about the record. Thankfully there isn't really one song that I flat out hate, with Fallen Fruit or The Path coming the closest but there are even things I find the need to defend about those tracks. Its easy to get tunnel vision dealing with the sameness of this album and some of the underwhelming songwriting, but occasionally Lorde makes me remember why I and so many other people fell in love with her in the first place. When she is really focusing she proves that she's capable of delivering an absolutely intoxicating vibe like almost nobody else in the pop music world. 

The lead single and title track Solar Power is a song that's truly worth all the hype. I recommend taking it at face value as a title track because it feels like both a sonic and thematic thesis statement for the entire record. Lorde is incredibly charming vocally and delivers infectious refrains throughout, plus the songs final minute features a great instrumental rise to a blissful and fitting conclusion. Secrets From A Girl has kind of become an online anthem in the few days since the album came out and it's easy to see why. The song is a bouncy, mostly acoustic cut filled with catchy refrains that flash the sounds of a young adult TV show theme song from the 2000's. That sense of pop nostalgia is core to the songs appeal and while the spoken word vocals are definitely an eye roll at first I think they ultimately fit in with the aesthetic and deliver on the total Lizzie McGuire experience. 

Big Star is a really gripping ballad that features some pretty self-degrading lyrics from Lorde which feels both new and somehow familiar to her songwriting. Even with a relatively relaxed performance she just absolutely takes over the song with her voice and it's easy to lose track of the story she's telling with just how much attention her vocals command. I was really excited about Oceanic Feeling given that it's a nearly 7 minute closer and it absolutely does not disappoint. Compositionally this is by far the most complex moment on the record bouncing between refrains gracefully and featuring an instrumental that evolves to keep it fresh throughout. Some of my favorite moments on the record show up here and Lorde makes for some lyrical highlights as she looks into the future and muses on what blessings and curses she may pass down to her daughter. It's all done with an air of casual charm that is quintessentially Lorde and I was always happy to reach this point at the end of the album every time I listened to it. 

There isn't much about Solar Power that I really hate, nor is their that much I'm crazy in love with. That is kind of my biggest complaint about the album, for an artist who has always felt like such an individual Solar Power has so little identity. Instrumentally so much of this record sounds so simple that it can get hard to tell these songs apart, while Lorde's lyricism is all over the place and yet so much of it is so forgettable. When Lorde is at her best here, she is truly dazzling with as much efficiency as ever before and yet when all is said and done I can't even imagine a world where anything other than the title track survives into 2022. While this review alone may get my membership revoked from the Lorde cult I am still no doubt still looking forward to what she does next. 

On Solar Power Lorde relies on her immense talent as a vocalist and Jack Antonoff's bassline level of production ability to avoid a disaster, but in doing so proved that she is capable of something slightly more insidious, being boring. 6/10

This cover is super conservative in composition and a brighter side of Lorde from her debut and sophomore albums. She's my favorite artist hands down and has been from her first EP so I has high hopes for this branding. While it is basic it has personality and shows a new side of her we haven't seen before. It's freeing and airy, something that was needed from the constrained and darker aesthetics of her last work. It's campy and the new logo isn't overdone of gaudy. It also ties in the trends we've seen from artists like Harry Styles and Willow with the use of wide angle and fisheye views. I'm really happy with this cover and excited to see any more visuals that come out of this album. 10/10

For more pop check out my review of Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever here