Lorde third studio album, Solar Power, debuted in late August to much anticipation. The New Zealand-born singer lorde had not released a full-length LP since 2017’s acclaimed sophomore effort Melodrama. So far, it seems, she has doled out albums in four-year intervals, with her debut Pure Heroine and its lead single “Royals” defining the 2013-14 year as few new artists have ever done with a single song. Clearly Ella O’Connor’s artistic persona was a master of the retreat before a global pandemic sent everyone into lockdown—whatever she gets up to (when she isn’t selling out stadiums on tour), she’s never had a problem making us wait to hear it.
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The first weekend of November she drew new attention to Solar Power via its two bonus tracks, “Hold No Grudge” and “Helen of Troy,” and their YouTube official audio amassed a total of 750,000 views in the first week. By now, they’ve become synonymous with the record itself. Closing an album that posits her in a whole new light (literally)—one that celebrates an easy, unbothered, forgiving life, sunny and healing like the California environment in which it was composed and to which it alludes—the two songs make for an affirming statement, a new self-defining thesis the artist chooses. Collectively, they’re a reflection on power, vulnerability, and how best to bridge the disconnect between the two.
Both boast (though this isn’t really the proper word—nothing on this album boasts) an understated sound that distorts the instruments at work; the sonic effect is a feeling of being underwater or hearing the music through a thick wall or door. “Hold No Grudge” features more sustained chords, creating a kind of suspension that reflects the imagery established by its lyric of floating or swimming through water; while the chords in “Helen of Troy” stop themselves short, leaving space for the key to be built note by note in the listener’s ear. Both chord progressions engage in heavy arpeggiation throughout the songs: each pitch is heard distinctly on its own, yet adds to the construction of the whole.
As with the album as a whole, these musical choices strike a pleasant balance amidst Lorde’s past output, settling somewhere between the harsh metallic minimalism of Pure Heroine (as evidenced by “Royals”) and the electronic-cum-orchestral swampiness of Melodrama. The chordal structures demonstrate the easygoing confidence she’s refined at this point in her career, but the aforementioned understatement means she isn’t about to rub it in your face. It’s a kind of quiet assuredness: she’s a little older and a little more comfortable, and she’s got nothing to prove.
Still, there are plenty of signifiers of the Lorde we’ve long known and loved. Her low, croaking vocal stylings are as reassuring as ever like she’s leaning in and speaking directly and only to you. When she’s not doing that, she’s experimenting at the top of her range, breathy high pitches on lines like “just when I go to close the gates/permanently” (on “Hold No Grudge”) or “let’s hear it for the girls/living in the modern world” (on “Helen of Troy”). Her tone is personable, and it’s always been compelling: but whereas on previous albums you felt like you were falling into it, the sound she’s adopted now, in keeping with her lyrics, is one you can positively nestle into.
Those lyrics take an album-spanning theme of moving on, taking responsibility, and rejuvenating and crystallizing them in a pair of afterthoughts. “Helen of Troy” recounts Lorde’s journey from being denied a solo performance at the 2018 Grammys, at which Melodrama got considerable attention, to a softer, more centered power that allows her to welcome others’ love and appreciation merely by being herself. “My little thing is keeping ‘em keen/They could be drinking with you, but they’ll be looking at me,” she sings—but it isn’t a mockery of whomever she’s speaking to, more like a private in-joke with herself. A couple of lines later she adds, “The city’s falling for me just like I’m Helen of Troy”—a reference to classical history in keeping with her “own little golden age.” But she doesn’t need anyone to start a war for her. In fact, it sounds as if she’s got no use for fighting of any kind anymore. Her vocals back up her lyrical claims: there’s a power that radiates from within rather than that must be sought from the outside, an industry pitfall with which Lorde is more intimately familiar than most.
“Hold No Grudge” is the second bonus track in the sequencing of the album, making it the last to be heard and its sentiments Lorde’s parting words to the listener, or her unnamed addressee, or both. Although the title may sound like a command, the lyric that interpolates it is “No, I don’t keep a list, can’t hold a grudge”—the singer is admitting an inability to carry around self-harming emotions like resentment, possibly signifying a change in her personality, or at the very least in her ways. The idea is not directed outward at others, but inward. And when she says, “Don’t you think that we both might have done some growing up?”, it’s a clear shift from the rebellious, premature claim of adulthood that permeates Melodrama, the kind of adulthood a young person uses to justify impulsive decisions: this is a maturity that recognizes a draining presence or destructive energy when it sees it, and makes no room for it.
Tracks like these leave us hopeful for where the artist and her collaborators will venture next. With each of her three existing projects, Lorde has plainly voiced her inclination toward the image of the shape-shifting musical stylist—even so, one intensely concerned with the state of her own being. What changes lie in store for her, personally and creatively, we can as yet only guess.
Tour Dates
(mostly sold out)
APR 3, 2022
Opry House
Nashville, TN
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 5, 2022
Masonic Temple Theatre
Detroit, MI
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 7, 2022
Salle Willfrid Pelletier
Montreal, Canada
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 8, 2022
Meridian Hall
Toronto, Canada
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 9, 2022
Meridian Hall
Toronto, Canada
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 12, 2022
Boch Center - Wang Theatre
Boston, MA
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 13, 2022
Boch Center - Wang Theatre
Boston, MA
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 15, 2022
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, CT
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 16, 2022
The Anthem
Washington, DC
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 18, 2022
Radio City Music Hall
New York, NY
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 19, 2022
Radio City Music Hall
New York, NY
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 20, 2022
The Met
Philadelphia, PA
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 22, 2022
The Chicago Theatre
Chicago, IL
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 23, 2022
The Chicago Theatre
Chicago, IL
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 25, 2022
The Armory
Minneapolis, MN
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 27, 2022
The Mission Ballroom
Denver, CO
w/ Remi Wolf
APR 30, 2022
WaMu Theater
Seattle, WA
w/ Remi Wolf
MAY 1, 2022
Theater of the Clouds
Portland, OR
w/ Remi Wolf
MAY 3, 2022
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
San Francisco, CA
w/ Remi Wolf
MAY 5, 2022
Shrine Auditorium
Los Angeles, CA
w/ Remi Wolf
MAY 6, 2022
Shrine Auditorium
Los Angeles, CA
w/ Remi Wolf
MAY 7, 2022
Santa Barbara Bowl
Santa Barbara, CA
w/ Remi Wolf
MAY 25, 2022
O2 Academy
Leeds, United Kingdom
w/ Marlon Williams
MAY 26, 2022
Usher Hall
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
w/ Marlon Williams
MAY 28, 2022
O2 Victoria Warehouse
Manchester, United Kingdom
w/ Marlon Williams
MAY 30, 2022
O2 Academy
Birmingham, United Kingdom
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 1, 2022
Roundhouse
London, United Kingdom
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 2, 2022
Roundhouse
London, United Kingdom
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 3, 2022
Roundhouse
London, United Kingdom
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 5, 2022
Forbidden Fruit
Dublin, Ireland
JUN 7, 2022
Casino de Paris
Paris, France
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 8, 2022
AFAS Live
Amsterdam, Netherlands
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 10, 2022
Primavera Sound
Barcelona, Spain
JUN 13, 2022
Halle 622
Zürich, Switzerland
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 14, 2022
Zenith
Munich, Germany
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 16, 2022
Cavea - Auditorium Parco della Musica
Rome, Italy
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 17, 2022
Castello di Villafranca
Villafranca di Verona, Italy
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 18, 2022
Saint Mihovil Fortress
Šibenik, Croatia
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 19, 2022
Saint Mihovil Fortress
Šibenik, Croatia
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 21, 2022
Open Air am Tanzbrunnen
Cologne, Germany
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 23, 2022
Verti Music Hall
Berlin, Germany
w/ Marlon Williams
JUN 28, 2022
Alexandra Palace
London, United Kingdom
w/ Marlon Williams
JUL 3, 2022
Lollapalooza Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
AUG 27, 2022
WonderBus Music and Arts Festival
Columbus, OH
SEP 16, 2022
Primavera Sound
Los Angeles, CA
FEB 21, 2023
Days Bay
Wellington, New Zealand
FEB 22, 2023
Days Bay
Wellington, New Zealand
FEB 25, 2023
Electric Avenue Festival
Christchurch, New Zealand
FEB 27, 2023
Neudorf Vineyards
Upper Moutere, New Zealand
MAR 1, 2023
Black Barn Vineyards
Havelock North, New Zealand
MAR 3, 2023
Bowl of Brooklands
New Plymouth, New Zealand
MAR 4, 2023
Outerfields
Auckland, New Zealand
MAR 7, 2023
Riverstage
Brisbane, Australia
MAR 8, 2023
Riverstage
Brisbane, Australia
MAR 10, 2023
Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Melbourne, Australia
MAR 11, 2023
Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Melbourne, Australia
MAR 13, 2023
Aware Super Theatre
Sydney, Australia
MAR 14, 2023
Aware Super Theatre
Sydney, Australia
MAR 17, 2023
Belvoir Amphitheater
Perth, Australia
MAR 18, 2023
Belvoir Amphitheater
Perth, Australia