4/5
Solar Flare.
Lorde have mercy. Its hot out here right now. But let the iconic album artwork of Lorde's 'Solar Power' step-over all that and give you power like drawing it from the sun. It's a new day and year after 2020. COVID-19 is still running rampant, but we're still trying our best to cope. We could still be 'Royals' again. Like fellow independent crowning pop star Billie Eilish with her own iconic, global megahit ('Bad Guy'), also having released an album this month, 'Happier Than Ever'. Blonde bombing the competition like Marylin. By royal appointment, New Zealand's own Lorde is back with the solar panel of a platinum plaque bound album for the walls of the rock and roll Hall of Fame as you walk. Fresher than a kiwi fruit this goes down like your hand over your brows to cover your eyes and shade yourself from the coming sun. There's a lot of shade coming these days from the sons of social media trolls who forget they have mothers and will one day have daughters (if they're lucky). But Lorde, Lizzo, or Billie don't need to pay that no mind when their braintrust of collective empowering and introspective music that matters and means more for the mainstream stands on its own like the big-three stars of this industry and twenty, twenty one never afraid, always have. Especially Lorde, who since sixteen has come in unprecedented long ways for a teenager with the 'Pure Heroine' of her huge hit 'Royals' that took over absolutely everything. Now at 24 and following up 2017's 'Melodrama', she comes to terms with it all like a heartfelt note to fans that devotes.
Environmentally not available on CD and streaming after her 'Going South' memoir wrote after her trip to Antarctica, this activist album's friendly sound provides energy for everybody and everything. That perfect precursor has led to 'The Path' of this opening. Her self-dubbed "weed" album of psychedelic indie rock revolving like the sun around the theme of summer escapism and the philosophical idea of solipsism that only one mind exists let's Lorde truly make peace with herself. Taking us higher as we jonz off this nirvana in harmony with its 'Never Mind' classic cover that is all about art and not gratuity for mainstream money. The lead album titled single off this Electric Lady studio created record with frequent Lana like collaborator Jack Antonoff is a summer solar scorcher. Released on a solar eclipse, 'Solar Power' will have your heart...totally. "I hate the winter, can't stand the cold/I tend to cancel all the plans (So sorry, I can't make it)/But when the heat comes, something takes a hold/Can I kick it? Yeah, I can", she sing channeling Tribe on this innervision quest for wonder. All before NZ's finest takes us to 'California' on this delightful dozen for another classic song of the state of San Diego, Francisco and Los Angeles, Hollywood dreams. Although this album like a 'Happier' Eilish is all about the pitfalls of fame and rising above it all to find your one true self and not the one that is plastered all over billboards or tabloid headlines. Like Tarantino for DiCaprio she writes like Billie for a broken relationship with traces of abuse, "Once upon a time in Hollywood/When Carole called my name/I stood up, the room exploded, and I/Knew that's it, I'll never be the same/That's when the doors swung open/And a voice said, "We're glad you came"/Now I've spent thousands on you, darling/All the hotels and the jets/And I'd pay it all again to have your golden body back in my bed/But I don't miss the poison arrows aimed directly at my head."
Laud over this. Lorde over everybody. 'Stoned At The Nail Salon' she gives us her second single that Ben Affleck's character from 'The Town' can cry to. The perfect follow-up. "To the ones that came before us", she dedicates on the 'Fallen Fruit' of another playlist hit ripe for picking. This sounds like a throwback testament to some of you're favourite grunge from the 90's gone acoustic, but still as raw as they are real. But when she breaks it down, "from the Nissan, to the Phantom, to the plane" that's when you know she, or music will never be the same. Between her and the aforementioned 'Bad Guy' we can't tell which megastar is better. But why pit them against each other when we can just enjoy this time to be alive with iconic women in music going Gaga like Madonna...Duh!? 'Secrets From A Girl (Who's Seen It All Before)' doesn't just harbour an incredible song title, but also reveals life lessons like "’Member all the hurt you would feel when you weren't desired? (Doing anything for more touch)/’Member what you thought was grief before you got the call?/Baby girl, no one's gonna feel the pain for you/You're gonna love again, so just try staying open/And when the time comes, you'll fall/Yeah, when the time comes, you’ll fall." All as the one and only Robyn plays emotional baggage tour guide background, over the tannoy telling you "please be careful it doesn't fall on someone you love." These 'Sadness Airlines' only fly, "when you face it." Take off! The acoustic creaks of 'The Man With The Axe' really hits, taking "here's Johnny" swipes at the Michael Scott 'Office' life for a track that really shines like Jack for those who "thought (they were) a genius." Forget falling for someone just like your father. How about someone whose favourite record is the same as pops? Yikes! Melancholy majesty that falls like 'Dominoes' on this Woodstock record that will tide you over as you feel the surf of getting high with a few box of pizzas and your lamenting loneliness that at least compels the couple you used to be a part of as you hold on to lost love like a last hit. Pass, pass nothing on this album from the 'Big Star'. All killer, no munchie filler "burning through the amber light." Just press repeat, there's no need to skip. All the way to the closing call for a 'Leader Of The New Regime' and the changing colour of the mesmerizing 'Mood Ring'. Taking spirited shots at fake wellness culture on her latest single she sings,"Ladies, begin your sun salutations/Transcendental in your meditations (Love and light)/You can burn sage and I'll cleanse the crystals/We can get high, but only if the wind blows (Blows just right)". Satirising a dangerous developing culture that targets impressionable people and crystallising her songwriting talent. All before the 'Oceanic Feeling' takes us away as we could listen to this album as we drift and it tides us over before we make it to the shores of a brand new horizon. Last year destroyed us. This one gives us power. And Lorde does it all under the sun. Get ready to rise. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Solar Power', 'California', 'Secrets From A Girl (Who's Seen It All)'.
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