Melodrama (album) by Lorde

Nice pop album, with clever ideas. "Green Light", "Liability" and "Hard Feelings" are outstanding and timeless. One of the best pop artists alive.

From Boltzmann 01/12/2020 09:05

Don't see why this one should be that much better.

I think Lorde found the ingredients for an interesting pop album with substance. She broadens her vocal range and delivery to prove that she's not a purely low-register singer. The album doesn't rely on the overusage of repeated bombastic beats or drum machines. It switches it up nicely with a good peppering of dream-pop vibes in the album as well.
I listened to this after listening to Lana del Rey's "Norman Fucking Rockwell" and I'm drawing the conclusion that Jack Antonoff is THE producer who can take a talented singer and elevate their music to the next level with intimate and fitting production. The structure of the album is very good too, transitioning between smaller, more personal songs and dancier anthems. The reprises are in appropriate places on the album so as not to beat the listener over the head with the same themes.
There are still some repetitive moments on the album and I think the lyricism can be so-so at moments, but I think Lorde is growing very well as a songwriter and singer so I'm looking forward to what she does next!

90/100

Favorite Tracks:
Green Light, The Louvre, Supercut, and Perfect Places

I'm really waiting for her next album

From pctrooper 11/15/2019 00:56

Never been a fan of Lorde. Sounds really corny to me, and I can't really relate to her songs/style. I don't know, I think this album sounds too pseudodramatic or something. I gotta give her credit though; she has a distinct style and I understand why some people might like her work.

From jeremy9 10/05/2019 16:36

It's not music for me but it's ok

This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.

Lorde is absolutely amazing, so talented and she sings so beautifully. Looking so much forward to her next album. Perhaps she will do a European tour at the time?

From cestuneblague 06/30/2019 00:16

Yeah can't shake the feeling that if you just released this tracks 2-8 as an EP you would have a minor masterpiece, but the weaker start and finish ultimately lead to a somewhat bloated and uneven overall album. Now it's highs are very, very high indeed (the dense and sweaty "Sober", the over-the-top sauciness of "Lipstick Dynamite", the snarky-sweet self-depracating "The Louve", the much more upfront and personally confrotational "Liability" and "Writer in the Dark", and "Hard Feeling/Loveless" is a multi-genre medley-mashup almost worthy of Mellow Gold) but "Green Light" turns from a more appropoiately atmospheric and vulnerable Lorde track to an anonymous top-40 frankenmonster, and the penultimate tracks feel much more Jack Antonoff castaways than something distinctly hers. And while "Perfect Places" certianly fills the void for an anthemic closer it feels like a step back artistically, something that would've worked as a single released with good distance between PH and Melodrama as it feels much more appropiate to the former (really it's just an amped-up "Team").

So while this was a half-genius big step up from her promising if somewhat overrated first album, this too suffers a bit from the messianic over-hype... but when it's on it's as emotionally & musically dynamic like nothing else out there.

In 2013, 17-year-old Lorde released "Pure Heroine", an album that has been critically acclaimed. Since then, four years have passed and the New Zealander is back with a second project called "Melodrama" ... Lorde offers an intimate album that reveals his wounds of the transition to adulthood after a painful rupture. With themes such as loneliness, self-quest and love disappointment, the singer-songwriter's warm voice is still very important. She sings by accentuating the various sounds of her vocal timbre. After several listenings, I can assure you that "Melodrama" is a real success. Lorde reveals herself by writing in a fair and realistic way on subjects that are not always rosy. She describes her tribulations of her own life as a young woman with sincerity and authenticity. This is a future classic, a pop masterpiece, better than "Pure Heroine".

9/10

Best track: "The Louvre"