More about: Lorde

The Lorde album cycle comes around as infrequently as a leap year, but when it does, it lands like a meteorite. Her debut, 2013’s Pure Heroine, startled critics with its almost bizarrely mature critique of self and society, as she looked at the wider world in stark detail from her Auckland bedroom window.

Then, after being dubbed the future of music by none other than David Bowie, her follow up Melodrama recalibrated her vision once again: it details the souring of a relationship through electro-pop synths and imagery of a house party gone wrong, and landed high up on best-of-the-decade album lists across the globe.

Then there’s Solar Power. While her third and most recent offering may have divided critics down the middle, it feels like a record that may age better over time, once we’ve all had a summer worth shouting about. As writer Douglas Greenwood recently said in a tweet: “Solar Power is actually a great album, it's just not the album you asked for.”

Ahead of Lorde returning to the UK for The Solar Power Tour this week, her first tour here in almost five years (!), let’s take a look back at some of the star’s best — yet most underappreciated — work.

'The Path'

The opening song on Lorde’s 2021 album Solar Power, her first in four years, was a re-introduction to a star now at arm's-length. “If you’re looking for a saviour, well that’s not me,” she directs at her fans, putting distance between herself and the glitz, glamour and god-like status that comes with being a popstar. This is Lorde sun-kissed, roof down, and heading to the beach for the answers. She’s urging us all to do the same. 

'Hard Feelings/Loveless'

‘Hard Feelings’ is a pulsing description of the gut-wrenching days, weeks, and months of waiting for the embers of a lost relationship to finally burn out. Sometimes, though, after a break up, it’s the smallest actions of self-care that help us to build a bridge to being OK. “I light all the candles, cut flowers for all my rooms. I care for myself the way I used to care about you,” Lorde hums, before the song reaches a crescendo of shrieking, metallic synths. ‘Hard Feelings’ joins the likes of ‘Liability’ as one of the most tender moments in Lorde’s career so far.

'Ribs'

‘Ribs’ certainly isn’t underrated among Lorde’s fans, having become somewhat of a nostalgic cult anthem for those who’ve grown up alongside her. Written by a teenage Lorde the day after she threw a house party while her parents were away, ‘Ribs’ is a woozy rush through the thrills and fears of leaving the safety net of childhood and dipping your toes into adulthood. “I want them back, them minds we had,” Lorde laments, vocals swelling and blooming into a sort of one-woman chorus as the reality of getting older sinks in.

'California'

In a 2021 Consequence ranking of all songs produced by Jack Antonoff, Lorde’s Solar Power album track ‘California’ somehow sank into dead-last place. Lyrically, yes, it’s not the most relatable in her back catalogue, focussing solely on her jaded view of California and its clouds that “hold no rain”. But beneath Lorde’s pensive disdain for Hollywood, ‘California’ is a sweet, wistful ode to leaving behind a life once lived, and choosing the path to happiness that suits you best.

'Liability (Reprise)'

If ‘Liability’ is the song for the Uber on the way home from the party, drunk with tear-stained cheeks, ‘Liability (Reprise)’ is for the following morning, sunlight piercing through the blinds. The inflamed doubt and inflated sense of responsibility begin to fade on Liability’s sister song, as clarity takes hold and Lorde reminds herself in her signature rasp: “you’re not what you thought you were”.

'Magnets' with Disclosure

Despite the combined powerhouse of Lorde and Disclosure, this 2015 single wasn’t quite a worldwide smash. It’s a wonder as to why not: the production and Lorde’s vocals are slick and slinky, resulting in one of the most radio-ready offerings of her career so far. It’s fun, flirty, and we’re yet to see Lorde roll out another tune quite like it. 

'A World Alone'

On the one hand, the closing song on Lorde’s debut album is a reflection of the singer as a regular 16-year-old, tentatively exploring the gulf between childhood and adulthood. There is talk of fake friends, driving in cars with boys, and being raised on the internet, delivered over melancholic guitar strums. On the other, this is Lorde contemplating the tiny space she takes up in the world and how, one day, it won’t mean anything at all: “One day the blood won't flow so gladly,” she sings. “One day we'll all get still.”

‘Hold No Grudge’

It’s easy to see why ‘Hold No Grudge’ was relegated to being one of two bonus tracks on Solar Power. Sonically, it’s a cohesive addition to the album, all watery acoustics and mellow, hazy beats. Lyrically though, it’s a step away from the album’s summer escapism, exploring instead the feeling of maturing and letting go of relationships gone awry. “I know that some shit was said and done,” she sings, before reflecting on how the pandemic may have changed her perception. “It’s such a different world now, I can’t hate anyone.”

‘No Better’

This slice of breezy, late-summer trip-hop was a surprise addition to Lorde’s debut, arriving a couple months after the album’s release. Depicting the lazy, care-free weeks as seasons blend from summer to autumn, layered over increasingly throbbing synths, this track deserves as much acclaim as the rest of Pure Heroine. 

‘Writer In The Dark’

It’s a shame that ‘Writer in the Dark’ is now probably best known for being the song Lorde performs while shushing her fans, considering it’s the most dynamic, off-kilter vocal performance in her discography. The verses are whispered over delicate piano strokes, before the histrionic chorus soars, stamped with a Kate Bush warble. If Melodrama is a piece of theatre, this is the climax.

‘Buzzcut Season’ 

At the centrepoint of Pure Heroine is ‘Buzzcut Season’, a song that frames the complexities of watching the world burn from a comfortable distance. Airy, sparing production puts ‘Buzzcut Season’ on the map as Lorde’s most haunting song to date, and its message remains as relevant today as ever. “Explosions on TV, and all the girls with heads inside a dream,” she sings. “So now we live beside the pool, where everything is good.”

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More about: Lorde