2017 in Music: Lorde

Now that we're at the halfway point of the year, I'd like to put up a handful of new music reviews as well as my top 5 or 10 albums of 2017 so far. However, I may have to post them tomorrow. For now, here's a review of Lorde's new album "Melodrama" (I wrote more than usual and figured I could make it a stand-alone post).

~

Lorde - "Melodrama" (June 16, 2017)

I never would have guessed that a genuine art-pop concept album could make it in today's musical landscape, but Lorde pulled it off. Melodrama is a self-contained sprawling portrait of emotional evocation, full of slow pulsing beats, winding vocal landscapes, and lyrics that push the envelope of popular songwriting. Thoughtfully paced, it takes its time guiding you through the in's and out's of its meticulously structured music, allowing each song to connect and sink in they way they were meant to. While the album does have a properly modern sound, its artistic creativity is most obvious in the ways in which its minimalist approach fully meshes and plays with its pop-oriented leanings toward grandeur. Anticipating and denying the expectations for solo pop artists, this record simultaneously puts Ella Yelich-O'Connor fully on display as a person while highlighting her as the artist we know as Lorde. The spotlight is placed on the feelings conjured by her words and mostly-subdued voice rather than attempting to elevate her as the masterclass singer-songwriter her contemporaries often try to present themselves as. There isn't a single "big" song on it, but the beauty of this album is how perfect it is as a collection of tracks which come together to paint a picture of both relatability and individual personality most people have only wished to see in the realm of popular music. Melodrama certainly isn't a summer album meant to be played on repeat, nor does it pretend to be, but it is an album made to be appreciated. Her style of music may not be my preference, but Lorde has now fully piqued my interest, drawing me into her world. If it takes another 4 years to get album #3, I'll be patiently waiting. (Standout tracks, if you can call them that, include "Homemade Dynamite", "Sober II (Melodrama)", and "Supercut")

8.5/10