After releasing her long-anticipated third studio album, Solar Power, back in August, Lorde surprised us all with the release of the deluxe version this past Friday. It seems she’s finally here to stay for a little while and trying to release as much music as possible. You can tell Lorde is getting a real kick out of her Solar Power era, considering she also released an EP, Te Ao Mārama, which contains five songs from Solar Power written entirely in Māori.
Solar Power was a very unexpected turn from Lorde, but definitely not an unwanted one. Many fans were caught off guard by this new sound she presented. Her past albums, Melodrama and Pure Heroin, had a sort of melancholy sound to them. While Solar Power is a much more upbeat kind of style. You can even hear it in her voice, in the past she utilized her lower ranges and mellow sounding voice while in Solar Power, Lorde showed us how impressive her high range vocals really are.
In the new deluxe version of Solar Power Lorde, sadly, added a whole of two songs to the track list. However, they definitely add a lot to the album as a whole. In one of her infamous emails, Lorde said that the two tracks, Helena of Troy, and Hold no Grudge, were some of the first made for the album, they really helped her grow into the new sound. More so in Hold no Grudge, you can see subtle influences from her previous album, Melodrama, in the two additions.
Overall, Solar Power is a very enjoyable listen and is something I would recommend to most. Lorde really showed how much fun you can have while making music even while singing about some difficult topics. While Solar Power is much more of a “fun in the sun” kind of album, it’s always refreshing to have that warm sunlight feeling, especially when it’s too cold to leave the house.
