Friday, October 18, 2013

Lorde – Pure Heroine (2013) – Review


Review: Lorde is the stage name of New Zealand singer-songwriter Ella Yelich-O’Conner. Her debut album Pure Heroine follows her critically acclaimed EP The Love Club (which came out earlier this year).

Lorde’s Pure Heroine seems to both fit perfectly into today’s musical landscape as many of the tracks are ripe with catchy pop hooks and a sarcastic (if not bored) reaction to hip hop’s major influence on youth culture in addition to the mundane sameness of radio-friendly music, which can especially be heard in the song Royals. Yelich-O’Conner has a very sultry yet lively voice that is in many ways hypnotizing, giving her songs this smooth quality that is easy for listeners to latch onto and find themselves enchanted by. There is just something special about her voice.

Musically, many of the songs, all of which produced by New Zealand musician Joel Little, have a very minimalist and stripped-down sound. This is a nice touch, as it fits Yelich-O’Conner’s voice well and offers a different sound to the EDM and orchestration of a lot of today’s pop music. However, the beats that accompany Lorde (which she also helped compose with Little) are also maybe the weakest aspect of her album. Upon multiple listens, the music just seems to arrive at the rather monotonous place and I often find myself just zoning-out while listening instead of being engaged.

Lorde is a breath of fresh air among young pop stars, and this is an album well worth checking out. In a way, this is a pop album that is very much anti-pop in its sound and message. 3/5

Essential Tracks:
1)      Royals – Produced by Joel Little
2)      Team – Produced by Joel Little
3)      Tennis Court – Produced by Joel Little

Available on: Digital Download

No comments:

Post a Comment