Pure Heroine
by Lorde

Okay, yeah, I know, I know, "Lorde is pop and pop is the devil". For the most part, I agree with you, hypothetical BEA member. Pop is, generally, not even good on accident. Modern pop is the cantina from Star Wars: a wretched hive of scum and villainy; but even among the weird aliens and that one pig-nosed guy, there exists a cool, exotic, antihero who makes you not regretting entering in the first place. That's right. Lorde is Han Solo. Though there are some lackluster tracks in this album ("Tennis Courts" and "Buzzcut Season" immediately spring to mind), other tracks, like "Ribs", "White Teeth Teens", and (the albeit overplayed) "Royals" make it soar above the rest of the pop world like some kind of majestic, 21st century bird. A Millennial Falcon, if you will. Though pop is pop, this pop gives us a new, minimalist-ish sound that resonates with me, for one. For what it is, it's phenomenal.

For a 17 year old to release a pop album with this much depth and integrity without making it sound like "call me maybe" is pretty freakin impressive to say the least.
Yes, it's not the best album of the year, nor even the most original, but it packs an undeniable punch.
Obviously Royals is an instant standout, yet it is the non-singles such as Ribs and White Teeth Teens, that really raise eyebrows-whereas songs like A-Team just make me personally sigh.
None the less, it is SO refreshing to hear something like this being played on routine-rotation on the radio.
Who knows, if this is popular then we may just see alternative music taking its rightful spot in the mainstream spotlight, much like the early 90's.


I'm expecting numerous amounts of hate comments with that last remark.

I guess it's cliched to comment on how Lorde (aka Ella Yelich-O' Connor) is mature way beyond her age, but it's true. I read her interview in The Guardian where she remarks on how she feels like she can't really enjoy herself in a party, because she thinks more about what it all means. To quote: "I'm really interested in kind of weird social situations and cliques, watching girls vying for attention, watching how the popularity thing happens". If you listen to her music, either The Love Club EP or this album, you'll know exactly what she means. Related to that, there's also this constantly recurring theme of disconnect between her life (and life of her peers) and what is being presented in pop culture - both how the teenage life is represented and what is being set as ideals for them. In other words, she is still very much writing songs about being a teenager, but in a very introspective way. And of course it's also all about her growing up and being in a situation of quickly gaining fame and entering this world herself and trying to cope with it.

While her maturity is undeniable and deserves praise, you can't say it's perfect, and I still get the idea that she has some ways to go as a songwriter. Similar goes for Joel Little's production which, while nice, chilled and stripped down, remains a bit underdeveloped at times, and is also quite samey. I feel it's similar to Lana Del Rey's music, though I find Ella to be a better vocalist, which might be the reason it doesn't bother me as much here. Also, the lack of variety isn't that much of a problem as the album is fairly short.

All things considered, I have high hopes for her. Between this and her EP, she's already given me a lot of music to enjoy, which is not too common for me when it comes to mainstream pop. Here's to hoping that the attention of mainstream media in the near future will be less on those who are trying to draw attention with controversy and their image rather than music (you know who I mean), and more on actually talented girls like Ella.

From 9999 TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/12/2015 17:03 | #139389 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Well, it seems that you guys aren't huge fans of Tennis court, which is my favourite track on the album. Anyway, I think Pure heroine is pretty good on its own merits, but let's be fair here: pop or not (as if pop hadn't given us good artists), for a 16 year old girl, Pure heroine is an extraordinary piece of work.

One of the best albums of all time. Is underrated in a criminal way. It's pure genius.