Lorde’s New Album Nails What It’s Like To Be A Young Woman
Like most, I’ve been waiting literally four years for this album. Lorde’s Pure Heroine which for most of us was literally pure instant joy, came out my freshman year of college. I was entering one of the most completely amazing, dramatic, heart-wrenching yet fulfilling chapters of my life and this album lining up with the start of it releasing the third week of my first month of college. Every song lined up perfectly with where I was at and what I needed to hear, even if sometimes I wasn’t even entirely sure what she was talking about, did any of us understand the whole orange juice thing in 400 lux? But her words still struck powerful chords within a lot of us and that’s why we’ve all been on the edge of our seats since 2013.
When I heard “Green Light” for the first time I had a Taylor Swift level reaction, jumping up in down in my car and turning up the radio like I had never heard music before. Hearing a favorite artist on the radio who hasn’t released new music in years is like running into an old friend where nothing has changed. I instantly turned to social media to see news of an album coming out in almost, shit over a month? Haven’t I waited long enough? Soon enough another song came along, coincidently my personal favorite song not only on the album, but in life was released.
“Liability” is a ballad for girls all over the world who don’t feel enough, but are consistently told they are too much. “The only love I haven’t screwed up, shes so hard to please but she’s a forest fire” explaining the deep and consistent relationship she holds with herself, which is really the only one that matters. But what Lorde really addresses in this song which resonated with me, and easily a million other girls is, the frustrating feeling of being “a little much” for most. Whether your excessive with your love, your excitement, your drive, your need to feel needed. You always feel just a little much for everyone. You’re used to people becoming overwhelmed with…who you are. You are temporary excitement and then when the going gets tough…you know how that one goes. This song is simply beautiful because of its honesty, its ability to relate and what it did for me was even without the happy ending, you know it’s okay. You know you are absolutely obligated to be as much as you want, and whoever isn’t okay with that can settle with their glass half full, while you are overflowing. Their loss.
But, it definitely doesn’t end there. “Hard Feelings/Loveless” is a song we waited our whole lives for. Hard feelings, the 50% of the way you feel at the end of a relationship. Something so beautiful worth remembering, but too damaging worth saving. “I light all the candles, cut flowers for all my rooms. I care for myself the way I used to care about you.” This. Is. Crucial. The moment where you realize it’s time to dust yourself off, pick yourself up, and water your own flowers. This idea of suffocating by the loss of a relationship or even friendship and drown in what once existed is a dangerous and damaging place to be in. But when we finally release the pressure we let sit right on our chest and push forward to what is right around the corner for us, we get back our strength and faith in love. Through this song I felt every single stage of losing love and I thank Lorde for putting that into four absolutely utopic minutes. Then, in a snap the other 50% of a breakup comes out in a catchy, hip tune. “L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S generation. All fuckin’ with our lover’s heads.” In a generation where instead of cleansing and moving on after a breakup, your main goal? Ruin his life. We’ve all thought it, and even though I’m all about a good healthy break up, I’ve had my fair share of “I’m gonna mess your life up” moments and I’m sure you all have too.
So far we’ve addressed our insecurities in “Liability”, then faced the music with “Hard Feelings/Loveless”. Which brought me to my third and final mood throughout Melodrama. Supercut. My new favorite pop song of all time. Supercut is powerful to me because again, we’ve all been there. Sometimes in some twisted situations, no matter how much we try and try to act like something was so terrible and negative all we can see is the good. And then we think, “dammit, is that so bad?” Not necessarily. You can go over the entire reel, you can flip through the bloopers, and maybe even gloss over deleted scenes. But at the end of the day, with some people, all you can see is the supercut. Wild and fluorescent. Magical even on the bad days. I think this sits well with me because as much as I try to be bitter and angry about anything in life, the good in everything is always what shines through the most. Maybe I’m a hopeless romantic. But I’ll take the supercut of anything over the other options.
It’s no question I expected absolute gold out of Lorde’s sophomore album, but nothing prepared me for this. Her level of growth as an artist is astounding and it makes you (again) on the edge of your seat what’s to come next. Every song flowing perfectly into the next it wouldn’t be surprising for this to come out as the best Pop album of 2017. So far, it definitely has my vote.