If 2020 taught us anything, it's that there can be beauty in chaos.
The coronavirus pandemic allowed many of us to become more appreciative towards simple aspects of life, from a walk in the park to reading a chapter in a book.
When this new pandemic norm felt too scary, we stayed inside and rediscovered what truly made us feel good.
Lorde seems to have found her bliss amid the chaos.
In her debut album “Solar Power,” she addresses heavy topics such as climate change and losing loved ones but somehow finds light within the negativity that preoccupies her mind.
She inspires us to dance in the sun while we still can.
Lorde wasn’t trying to give us a semblance of stability and that’s what I loved most about this album.
The album moves rapidly from heartbreak to grief. It’s disorienting, even incoherent at times, but also beautiful and poetic.
Lorde is showing us that life is chaotic and sometimes all we can do is embrace it, find the light and dance in the sunshine.
Co-produced by Jack Antonoff, who has had an excellent year working alongside well-known artists such as Taylor Swift and Clairo, his distinct production style uplifts Lorde's talent into an honest masterpiece.
She has grown exceptionally since her 2017 album “Melodrama,” where she took the persona of the heartbroken girl who sways alone in her apartment.
This time she focuses on the acceptance of where life has taken her and leaves behind the nostalgia of heartbreak.
Lorde fully embraces the carefree persona she has taken in her new album and while some critics prefer her previous synth-heavy albums, I enjoyed the mystic sound she moved into.
“Big Star,” focuses on her dog’s death and the way her grief shaped into guilt. She sings “I toss-up if it's worth it now every time I get on a plane,” referring to the guilt she feels from not spending as much time as she would have liked with her furry companion.
Likewise, in “The Man With The Axe,” she sings about the man who has helped her find peace through her anxious thoughts. Lorde compares herself to a tree and her partner to “the man with an axe” with who she fell in love with.
While the metaphor itself falls short of being poetic, Lorde adds a surprising amount of vulnerability, especially since she has refrained from being too specific about past relationships.
Even in “Mood Ring,” she satirizes “self-care” influencers who try to sell happiness as easily as they sell makeup. Lorde points out the irony in believing that self care comes from social media since true self care should be achieved away from a phone.
Lorde made herself a name off of stripped down synths and vocal manipulations driving the melodies, but on “Solar Power,” Lorde replaces those electronic beats with laid-back guitar tunes.
The ’90s inspiration from the Sundays to Mazzy Star is abundant throughout the album, as Lorde uses heavy percussion to drive the beats with fun, flavorful riffs.
While “Solar Power” has gotten mixed reviews from critics and fans alike, I think it’s because we are more comfortable with celebrating music made in utter darkness.
Lorde attempts to tell her audience that happiness can be as poetic as sadness, especially when you surround yourself with others.
Previously, Lorde has rarely done collaborations, but “Solar Power” is filled with surprising features.
On “Secrets From a Girl (Who’s Seen It All),” Robyn, a Swedish pop singer, ends the song with a poem about a planet called Sadness.
It is certainly the most anthemic song on the album as she proclaims, “all your mystical ambitions, they won’t let you down.”
Life will always be “sunrise by euphoria, mixed with existential vertigo” as Robyn tells us, but Lorde doesn’t want us to lose hope.
She might be dancing in the sun, carefree with a slight amount of existential dread but with this album, it feels like she brought us with her
