400 Lux – Femme fatale pop at its finest: over canyon-sized bass and popping percussion, Lorde tosses off a deeply evocative lyric (“You drape your wrists over the steering wheel”) in the same couplet as a powerful declaration (“We might be hollow, but we’re brave”). The detached attitude, woozy production and chopped-n-screwed “Yeah!” exclamations all showcase an artist willing to synthesize the darker edges of pop music and produce something intoxicating.Ģ.
Which songs on “Pure Heroine” are musical royalty? Check out our track-by-track take on Lorde’s debut.Īlong with “Royals,” “Tennis Court” is likely the song that introduced most listeners to Lorde, and operates as the older, slightly crazier cousin of the Top 10 hit. September has been a profoundly great month for new female vocalists in popular music, but Lorde is easily the most vocally striking and lyrically thought-provoking. This 16-year-old’s first album is so smart that it begins with the line “Don’t you think that it’s boring how people talk?” and ends with the statement, “Let them talk.” In between is an exploration into the soul of a quiet girl in the Internet age, trying to feel something and not envy everything. She is truly the "queen bee" as she sings in her hit song ‘Royals’, and considering her recent Grammy wins, it seems as if her career is only beginning.“We’re dancing in this world alone,” she concludes on the finale “A World Alone.” Even if that’s true, “Pure Heroine” has provided an immaculate soundtrack to that solitude. She closed with a burst of gold confetti a spontaneous wardrobe change into a long gold cape, and just as expected, a long standing ovation. Though the only moment Lorde really spoke was after her song Ribs, in which she detailed a crazy house party that inspired her song, her show was exciting, engaging and fun. Her sole voice carried through 2500-person theatre, with no back up singers or dancers to accompany her, and captured the appeal of the audience that the opener did not manage. What most stood out to me was the fact that she was the only one on stage beside a drummer and a synthesizer. These intricate movements, matched with the rhythm, complemented the themes of darkness and sparse emotion throughout her entire show. Her first song, 'Glory and Gore', was paired with witchy twitches and spazzes, which sounds worriesome, but actually seemed to echo the theme of her music. After a psychedelic but casual opening by Lo-Fang, Lorde walked out in an all-black floor-length dress and dark lipstick, and the crowd erupted with screams, cheers and whistles. I was seated near the back with my sister, surrounded by a diverse group of people: gaggles of teenage girls and their out-of-place, accompanying dads, alternative twenty-year olds, and an older couple hiding in the corner. The few concerts I've been to have all been country singers, during Brad Paisley's prime and Taylor Swift’s rise to fame. She's only seventeen, but performs and writes with an air of quirky maturity. Though most of her songs have the same slow, deep beat and synth, they are written about her life, growing up, and her fascination with aristocracy and royals.
She's known mostly for her hits, 'The Love Club' and 'Royals', which reigned this summer on the top charts and the radio (though was perhaps overplayed). On March 19th, the New Zealand born artist Lorde came to the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts on the first tour of her career.