Oh Lorde, She is Back!

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Photo by: Zoe Garden

Lorde performing “Greenlight” on Saturday Night Live in March.

It has been four agonizingly long years of waiting by Lorde fans for new content to arise. On March 2, Lorde dropped her latest single, “Green Light”, and revealed her new album, Melodrama, will be released June 16. Lorde is known for her interesting take on pop music by not being in the normal standard. Though she has been absent from the public eye, it is exciting to welcome her back to the pop culture arena.

Lorde first came to pop music with her moody yet feisty album, Pure Heroine which  hails way back to 2013, when she was just 16-years-old. Ella Yelich-O’Connor (Lorde), from New Zealand, came out of nowhere. Her first song, “Tennis Court”, from Pure Heroine states right of the bat, “Don’t you think how it’s boring how people talk” and soon enough, it revealed the  kind of artist Lorde wants to be. She sets herself apart from the crowd with her lyrics that relate to adolescents, not caring about what people think  and  dealing with growing up when no one seems to want to listen.

“Lorde has taught me to chain my tiger with a gold leash and let it loose when others don’t treat me like a queen,” said freshman Molley Spencer.

Lorde began to be recognized with her major hit “Royals” in 2013. The song was a huge success, becoming the first song in 26 years for “Longest #1 on Alternative Radio by a Female artist” since  Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now”. She also went on in 2014 to receive two Grammy awards for “Song of the Year” and “Best Pop Solo Performance” for “Royals”.

Lorde is sometimes ridiculed for her dancing during performances. To her fans, it is another example of her having fun and not caring, but to everyone else it looks very strange. Earlier this month, she made her Saturday Night Live debut with her new songs, “Green Light” and “Liability” and it brought back to light her quirkiness.

“I think her performance style seems to be designed to make people uncomfortable rather than try and make her emotions prettier and/or less genuine than they are,” said senior Klara Pokrzywa. “I think it is a really good thing to see in a young artist, because so often songwriting and performance can feel contrived, but she always seemed to try and just convey what she feels, even if it doesn’t fit into a picture perfect narrative.”

Lorde recently broke up with her longtime boyfriend of three years, photographer James Lowe. Maybe people speculated that is what her new single, “Green Light” is talking about, which was later confirmed on Apple Music’s radio show, Beats 1. This could possibly mean that her forthcoming album, Melodrama, will be centered on the split.

“Green Light” sounds angrier, deeper and her voice is raspier, something nobody could have expected. “I know what you did and I want to scream the truth/She thinks you love the beach/You’re such a damn liar.” In the chorus, Lorde makes it clear this song is about a breakup when she sings, “Honey I’ll come get my things, but I can’t let go”.

After this realization in the lyrics, the beat changes, shifting the mood with a dancing beat. The song becomes an anthem when she yells, “I’m waiting for it! That Green Light! I want it!”. Lorde displays growth with her first major heartbreak, something everyone experiences. She is only human, which again tells the world how grounded with some more perspective with recent events.

Lorde will always be set apart from the rest. With her beautiful lyrics and very distinct personality, it will always be a pleasure to watch her grow in the public eye. Melodrama will hopefully show more sides to Lorde and touch more people’s hearts than she already has. Melodrama will be out on streaming services and everywhere you can buy music on June 16.