Music Reviews

Lorde recharged with ‘Solar Power’

From Lourde's official website.

MEXICO CITY – Troubadours were musicians in the medieval period whose poems focused on heroes and their adventures.

With her latest studio album, Solar Power, Lorde takes the role of the troubadour to explain to us her journey through the music industry and how she finally found peace.

The opening song, “The path” is the first glimpse we see of her adventure, the start of her journey, the first number of a musical. 

In “Solar Power,” we make a jump to her present. She looks free. The iconic Lorde echoes make an appearance, but it’s not only Lorde who’s singing them – those voices belong to Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo.

The different harmonies and the music video seem like she’s introducing us to this magical civilization, where she has found liberty and calm in nature.

She takes us back to the distant past in “California,” where she sings her origin story. The soul of her music doesn’t reside just in her music, it also lives in the lyrics. Lorde has the gift of telling us a big story in just three minutes. The words are imagery – she doesn’t waste time.

The best songs on Solar Power are the ones that sound effortless but are secretly meticulous. It’s the first time she’s produced music incorporating acoustic instruments and sounds from nature.

She also makes clearly intentional alternations to her voice, which gives a mystique vibe to her songs. All these elements make the tracks naturally beautiful.

Through the album, Lorde draws these tiny, abnormal scenarios to describe universal feelings she has been going through in her journey, like burnout, growing up and questioning every decision she has made. A great example is “Stoned in the Nail Salon.”

It’s confusing to connect an emotion to a particular song. Some of the lyrics alone are a little cynical, but unlike her past albums, they are not dark or full of angst. Her voice is what sets the mood, like in the song “Fallen Fruit.” 

Finally, she’s landed in this new world, where she feels calm and untied.

Her song “Mood Ring” offers her first impressions and the last track, “Oceanic Feeling” reflects on the process she went through to end up there. 

It is hard to connect with some songs because the music lacks unpredictability. Like her lyrics, the music is very linear. It works for the lyrics because it makes them sound elegant and articulate, but music needs a bit of excitement.

Solar Power is a deep breath for the mind, but I did miss the melodrama.

Regina López is a Senior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.

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