We told you this was melodrama . . .

It's the middle of summer, it is getting dangerously close to midnight, and hundreds of us are standing shoulder to shoulder, arms around each other with both strangers and friends. Clad in rain boots and ponchos, beers in one hand and flower crowns in the other, tears of joy and ecstasy running down our faces, we dance in the mud and freezing cold waiting for Lorde. The 20-year old singer-songwriter from New Zealand burst into the music scene four years ago, and now in mere minutes will be opening her set at Open'er Festival in Gdynia, Poland for us. It's been a long time coming, after a strong debut at the young age of 16, fans have been waiting impatiently for her sophomore album to drop - right in time for Coachella and all the rest of the big summer festivities. Lorde (whose real name is Ella) has a particular aura about her that is difficult to pinpoint yet immediately recognizable. It's a combination of alternative, dance pop, and electronic, and indie combined effortlessly with witty banter and dark, sarcastic, almost dry humor. ("Don't you think that it's boring how people talk?" - Tennis Court)

Her debut album, Pure Heroine was a depiction of being a restless teenager in a sleepy suburban town. It in a strange way despite the brutal honesty and the misfit outcast viewpoint of it, it at times seemed to romanticize (albeit sarcastically) the things people in that point of their life do to cure their boredom, the bad habits and decisions that can come out of that sort of lifestyle when paired with being around certain people. It talked about fame but in a jaded, realistic way, no sugarcoating or glorifying here - pop culture is not all it's cracked up to be and she embraces that. The album in itself is a process, or story - it begins from the get-go with a skeptical outlook on fame and fortune, the partying and the empty validation of that lifestyle, but that it's okay to want it all the same ("But every song's like gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom / Blood stains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room / We don't care, we're driving Cadillacs in our dreams" - Royals). Then as the songs continue, it gradually turns into a realization that there will always be those who will wish you harm or unhappiness, that no matter what you cannot please everyone and that not everything is what it seems. That the only people in your life that matter, are those who stick by you through the good and the bad and the rest is merely trifles ("All the double-edged people into schemes, they make a mess, then go home and get clean / Let 'em talk 'cause we're dancing in this world alone" - A World Alone).

What is refreshing about Lorde's work, is that instead of being a typical dubstep/ techno fest where all you get is incoherent sounds; her songs are less about the background noise and more so about the words, making the whole experience of soaking in these lyrics almost similar to reading poetry. It's deep, different, and unpredictable - and therefore never redundant.

All of this leads to the aforementioned excitement for what was our first glimpse at Lorde's new record, eloquently titled Melodrama. Before going into it, we knew it would be a stark contrast to the girl we got to know and love all those years ago, the introverted, apathetic teen who desperately wanted out and craved adventure and was dealing with her newfound fame. Now officially in her 20's, this clearly would be about coming of age and figuring out what adulthood had in store  (which honestly, these days I can vouch that it takes a while to get out of the so-called quarter-life crisis stage) and deal with everything good and bad that comes with that.

Immediately from the first song it's obvious that not only has Lorde grown through her life stories and writing (which is amazing in itself seeing as even from her very early work i.e. Bravado and Still Sane, she has always proven to be mature not only for her age but for our lifetime), but managed to improve in a production sense as well. All throughout the album there are small moments where the listener would normally expect the beat to drop, yet she always pulls it back in the best way possible. Again, she is not known to be obvious. Another thing worth mentioning is that there are small nuances and moments in almost all of the songs where she either makes a noise, or says or whispers a single word or phrase that reminds us all that despite her mega fame, she's still the same quirky, enigmatic person deep down (i.e. "Broadcast the boom boom boom boom, and make 'em all dance to it - The Louvre).

The first three songs are from the looks of it, a story of the events of one night. What is interesting here is that sometimes it seems as though it is just chronicling a party, but actually it is much deeper than that. Green Light, which is the first track, and not coincidentally the most pop off the entire album, hits like a ton of bricks - it's all about the attempt (key word) recovering from heartbreak and finding inner strength and perseverance to power through and move forward, and being stuck before being able to do so. Ella confirmed numerous times that it is her synesthesia that made her see the color green for this particular song (green means go, am I right?) so perhaps it helped her chase highs in a more positive, therapeutic way eventually.

Sober, on the other hand, talks about falling back into old patterns and what happens when the honeymoon phase/initial attraction of a relationship ends and you are forced to go back to reality ("King and Queen of the weekend, ain't no pill that can touch our rush / But what will we do when we're sober?"). It's like waking up the next day after a bender and feeling like death and not knowing how to cure the pain. It's thinking you've moved on and made it when you haven't just yet.

Homemade Dynamite, the third, very catchy upbeat track ("Our rules, our dreams, we're blind / Know I think you're awesome, right?"), sounds carefree at first, and perhaps that's the point - but then takes a bit of a sinister turn with the words "We'll end up painted on the road, red and chrome, all the broken glass sparkling - I guess we're partying?" (Seriously, who else writes about a car crash, metaphorical or not, in that way?). In other words, everything is all fine and dandy until you lose focus and you crash and burn and inevitably explode. 

There are some other songs worth noting in between the main ones I am analyzing here - one is The Louvre, which is also regarding the beginnings of a possible love interest. It is unique however, in the way that it is worded such as "Our thing progresses / I call and you come through / Blow all my friendships / To sit in hell with you / But we're the greatest / They'll hang us in the Louvre / Down the back, but who cares—still the Louvre." I love that, comparing savoring that moment of someone's company with The Louvre. The symbolism is fresh and strong in this one!

Then there's other gems like the songs where she combines two melodies into one with an interlude. Hard Feelings / Loveless is a prime example. Are we a loveless generation, with all our technology and online dating and high divorce rates? Food for thought. 

The thing I appreciate most in this new album is how it goes into the highest highs and the lowest lows of being at this point in your life. One of my favorite tracks, Sober II (Melodrama), aka the song that the album is named after, is poignant. It is about the sort of melancholy and bittersweet, almost numbing feeling of the morning after - almost like a hangover that you can't run away from ("Lights are on and they've gone home, But who am I? / Oh how fast the evening passes, cleaning up the champagne glasses"). It's about being surrounded one minute, and completely alone the next, and not being able to deal with that in a healthy, stable manner.

Two songs on Melodrama especially stand out, because they are vastly different from anything Lorde's ever done before. They are ballads, practically acoustic sounding, and they break my heart every time. Liability takes a while to comprehend since it changes perspectives quite a bit. In all it talks about "one girl swaying alone, stroking her cheek", which eventually turns out to be Lorde herself, in an account of her being left by people she loves, due to the fast rise in her career - and having to accept that sad fact and forgive them anyway, because at the end of it she understands and she cannot blame them for wanting to walk away knowing how much it is to take on being friends with her in this point of her life. "You're all gonna watch me disappear into the sun."

Now Writer In The Dark is more like a twisted emotional letter to an ex-lover. It's her going through the motions of a break up and slowly coming closer to closure. "I am my mother's child, I'll love you 'till my breathing stops, I'll love you 'till you call the cops on me / Bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark ; now she's gonna play and sing and lock you in her heart", she cries in a heartbroken raspy voice. This song is so relatable it's scary! What I love is that it starts with being quite resentful and vengeful, but by the end it's saying, okay, this happened but I wish you well and no mater what I can't erase the past - so what else can I do but to take that as a lesson and grow from it? We literally get to see her go through the motions in this one before our very eyes, and I think it's safe to say that we've all been there. 

The last song definitely worth mentioning is the closer, Perfect Places. Whenever I hear this I can't help but think of Pure Heroine and how much as a woman she's grown in the last four years ("I'm 19 and I'm on fire, but when we're dancing I'm alright"). Though it's still Lorde, it's a version of Lorde that is in a higher place, still having those graceless nights as she phrased it, but with a new perspective on life. Vulnerable and still healing but stronger than ever before, understanding that she (and all of us) deserve better, and that better is coming if you only let it. It's a journey that is both physical and internal, the overall message being love and appreciate what you have, and that life is a rollercoaster, so strap in and enjoy the ride while you can. In the last song on Pure Heroine she sings "We're dancing in this world alone", and now on this last track she seems to have changed her outlook because she says, "Now I can't stand to be alone." Quite a shift! I was so happy to see a little bit of apathy in this song too however, it circled back to the beginning and brought both albums together to remind us all to look at the bigger picture and see that not everything is what is seems, and that we shouldn't take anything for granted. We're always trying to escape somewhere better, when it's completely possible that we built up false hope that the grass is greener on the other side, when really that might not be true. "What the - are perfect places, anyway?" . . . what indeed? Maybe one day, we'll be able to figure that one out.

I have attached the links to the full YouTube playlists of both Pure Heroine and Melodrama below, listen and see for yourself if this magic stirs up the same feelings for you as it does for me. Each album has the songs strategically arranged the way they are for very specific reasons, so pay attention carefully. Last but not least thank you Ella, for the inspiration and for being to able to word so well what people like me are wanting to shout from the rooftops. You will never know how much of an impact your work has made on me.

P.S. Some music needs air . . . roll down your window.