Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, professionally known as Lorde, has continued to occupy space in a generation’s mind for almost ten years. Her professional career began at the age of 13, with her first full length album, “Pure Heroine,” releasing when she was 16. Last Friday, at the age of 24, she released her third album, “Solar Power.”
O’Connor has a résumé of dark, introspective tracks that have caused her to skyrocket in popularity among Generation Z. But, her third album feels lighter and more carefree than everything up to her previous 2017 release, “Melodrama.”
Producing with the infamous Jack Antonoff, the album has all of the catchy ‘straight to social media’ hits that one could ever dream of. Her hit song “Solar Power” seemed to have a hold on TikTok audios as well as Instagram captions for almost the whole summer.
“Can you reach me? // No, you can’t!” O’Connor sings.
However, while the album seems to take on the tone of a carefree 20 something on the beach, O’Connor’s introspective and sensitive writing still appears on much of the album, including a fan favorite, “Stoned at the Nail Salon.” While the name sounds a little ridiculous in its own Gen Z right, the song truly embodies her stoic songwriting style in the new tone she has determined for herself.
“Spend all the evenings you can with the people who raised you,” O’Connor sings.
Toward the middle of the album, O’Connor seems to show her true colors in more upbeat songs with lyrics that are packed with attitude and grandiose. Songs like “Fallen Fruit” and “Secrets (From a Girl Who’s Seen It All)”, seem to truly harken back to her “Love Club” and “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” album curation, while still maintaining the methodical tone O’Connor set for the album.
“Dancing with my girls // only having two drinks then leaving,” O’Connor sings in “Secrets (From a Girl Who’s Seen It All).”
She also seems to slip in the fluctuation of emotion that comes with being a 20 something, especially with the mass amounts of social issues. O’Connor’s solo trip to Antarctica while making this album seemed to be a time of self discovery, and songs like “Mood Ring” reflect that. While the lyrics feel youthful, she still talks about thoughtful and mutual experience, like simply not knowing how to express oneself in a situation.
“I’m tryna blow bubbles inside // Can’t seem to reach my mood,” O’Connor sings.
Overall, while the album seems like a bit of a black sheep for O’Connor, it’s proof that her career has grown with her. She remains true to some of her boastful beats and lyrics, but they seemed to have moved from a dark mansion basement out onto a beach somewhere. I’ll admit that this album took me by surprise, but it’s one I would recommend no less.
