Acastat review1/8/2024 You don’t associate soft guitar strings with Lorde though the record flourishes with acoustics, which perfectly balance Lorde’s husky, stripped-back vocals. Although the album is distinctively different to her previous records, what remains a constant is Lorde’s subtle judgements of the generation she simultaneously speaks for and rejects. Taking a hit at the pop-culture-fication of spiritual awakenings, Lorde sings about the contradictions between “transcendental meditations” and “cleansing crystals” and escapisms, like moving places and celebrity gossip. ‘Mood Ring’ is another hit from the album, entrenched in satirical lyrics. Lorde sings about a “new state of mind”, consisting solely of sand, water, her friends, and becoming completely unreachable to the outside world. If past hits like ‘Green Light’ and ‘Supercut’ reflect the vibrant aftermath of Spring’s blossoming, and ‘Liability’ and ‘Buzzcut Season’ mirror melancholic winter, ‘Solar Power’ is the summery successor that shines with optimism and childlike carefreeness. The titular track balances soft guitar strings with breathy vocals, a newly-inspired blend that carries through every track. Post-hiatus and returned to her New Zealand-roots, the album sees Lorde breathing in the “complex divorce of the seasons”, appreciating that although she can’t always predict the changes or like them, at least things are changing. She’s here just as much as you are, even with her “arm in a cast at the museum gala”, albeit ironically. Guiding the following tracks with it’s laid-back presence, Lorde stresses in this opener that she doesn’t exist to soundtrack your hard times. The opening track, ‘The Path’ dazes with a shoegaze rhythm and illuminates Lorde’s indifference to the life of fame, reminiscing her experience as a “teen millionaire having nightmares from the camera flash”. It’s easy to see that summer is Lorde’s muse here. Where Pure Heroine and Melodrama bit with a mix of electronic, pop synth beats and the hollowness and heartaches of adolescence, the new album Solar Power sees a new direction for Lorde – one that embraces letting the sun light your path. The mystique of Lorde isn’t merely derived from her idiosyncratic voice or bewitching rhythms, but from the cosmic web of youthful angst, insecurity and societal cynicism that lives within her music.
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