By Leighton Curless
I was recently scrolling through a Lorde fan account on Instagram when a picture from her most recent music video for her album Solar Power popped up. I jumped over to Youtube to watch the music videos from all three of her albums, and it got me thinking about how controversial her latest album drop was; people I’ve talked to have either really loved it or really hated it: I was in the former group. Solar Power was really eye-opening and therapeutic for me, and I think people don’t give it enough credit. So, here is why I think you should consider giving the album of summer synths and calming cricket noises a second chance.
Melodrama was a revolutionary pop album. It completely redefined the genre, and it still holds up five years later. Even its predecessor, Pure Heroine broke boundaries, a feat that is incredible for a 16-year-old. I think people often compare the new, more grounded album with its production-heavy counterparts, but I simply don’t think the two are comparable. They are in completely different ballparks, conceptually and contextually. I think if people focused less on the fact that Solar Power is not what they expected from the grunge pop princess and more on the album as its own entity and storytelling device, the opinions would lean a lot more positively.
Lorde went through so much in between her sophomore album and her latest: a trip to Antarctica and a social media wipe, all while growing up as an artist and a person. The difference between 20 and 24 is vast. Your view on life and what’s important completely morphs. This is exactly what happened with Lorde on her four-year sabbatical. When reading about her influences and themes for the album, she discusses taking a step back from stardom and not making “hits.” She’s no longer making music for fame and glory. Like she says in her song “California,” “Goodbye to all the bottles, all the models/Back to the clouds in the skies in a whole new way/Don’t want that California love.”
And even though I believe all of those reasons to be enough for you to want to kick back and give the album a relisten, this is the most important part to me: this album is for all the people who are no longer grieving what they had when they were younger, the material possessions and obsession with perfection, and instead embracing the beauty of what life has to offer and opening their minds, souls, and hearts. In many songs, Lorde references her old, younger self (especially in “Secrets from a Girl”). Lorde wrote this album for people who are healing or want to start. This album means so much to me because it came at a point in my life where I really needed to hear that I am more complex, interesting, and real than I ever thought I was at 15.
Just because it seemed like I had everything figured out in high school, doesn’t mean revelations aren’t yet to come. She was the older, wiser sister I never had, and she was telling me everything was going to be ok.
This album is so meaningful to me, and I want to share that hope and tranquility with others still stuck in their Melodrama “artificial happiness” phase. To get you started with listening, here are my favorite lines from each of the songs:
The Path: “Now if you’re looking for a savior, well, that’s not me”
Solar Power: “I’m kinda like a prettier Jesus”
California: “I stood up, the room exploded, and I/Knew that’s it, I’ll never be the same”
Stoned at the Nail Salon: “We’d go dancing all over the landmines under our town”
Fallen Fruit: “We’ll disappear in the cover of the rain”
Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen it All): “‘Member all the hurt you would feel when you weren’t desired? (Doing anything for more touch)”
The Man with the Axe: “I’ve got hundreds of gowns, I’ve got paintings in frames/And a throat that fills with panic every festival day”
Dominoes: “Just another phase, you’re shooting on through/The whole world changes right around you”
Big Star: “I used to love the party, now I’m not alright”
Leader of a New Regime: “Lust and paranoia reign supreme”
Mood Ring: “I’m tryna get well from the inside/Plants and celebrity news/All the
vitamins I consume”
Oceanic Feeling: “Baby boy, you’re super cool/I know you’re scared, so was I” and “Now the cherry-black lipstick’s gathering dust in a drawer/I don’t need her anymore”
Sources