Lorde - Melodrama (2017)

and its not like we DONT talk about that stuff. but this lorde song was like a 'broke the internet' type moment everyone was talking about and i dont really get it -- even prior to the song being underwhelming i dont get it

i think part of it is that she just doesn't release music that often

Yeah, she's a major artist and it's been four years since her last thing.

riding a wave of goodwill from the last one, New Jersey style

I also think it was designed to be Zeitgeist-y, and obv pulled it off.

(despite being not-great)

cover art playing into that as well

it's more than that, i get what deej is saying. she appeals to a... certain set of ppl who tweet a lot because she seems cool, approachable, like she could be friends w/ music writers, but is (or was at one point) also an A-list pop star. there is a perception of authenticity (both as a personality and musically) that drives enthusiasm about her w/in a certain discursive bubble. that authenticity used to be matched by the wider world circa "royals," but generally speaking on a global A list level the world has moved on but music writers in the rock critic lineage have hung on. it's funny for lorde to "break the internet" (music writer twitter) at the same time as ppl go thru another round of poptimist handwringing bcuz lorde is in essence a pop star who is flattered by attributes we associate w/ rockism. it's pretty easy to see

lorde has established some sort of auteur pop cred (probably a little undeservingly she's not that interesting imo) & melodrama was generally really well-received critically and by online pop nerds even if it was a commercial flop

i thought her debut album was pretty bad, but there was the same level of excitement around melodrama and then it at least kind of delivered?

can we put "less engaging that Doja Cat" on the sticker for the eventual album

You guys may v well be right (and are obv plugged into this stuff), tho I also don't think any random comeback single by her would have had the same "impact." There's something specific to this song and (yes) the cover art.

It's a Whole Vibe™

are you still talking about the cover art or

I can tell you that my daughters (15 and 19) revere Lorde as a young auteur with integrity, in the pantheon with Mitski and Billie Eilish. They’ve been waiting for this return for 4 years and are deeply underwhelmed.

There's something specific to this song

i guess there's very much a feeling of wasted potential to it? that makes it a little more interesting to discuss than if it had just been a bland failure or something. or more of the same in a decent but uninteresting way

but... it is just a bland failure, the issue is because it's LORDE people are acting confused about her putting out a boring song as a single instead of burying it on the back half of the album

xp I agree - we've certainly gotten a lot of mileage here out of discussing how it sort of reaches and fails, its relation to similar & more "successful" tracks, etc.

Mitski rules

"Stoned at the Nail Salon"

"secrets from a girl (who's seen it all)"

Wut

According to a press release, as an alternative to being released on CD, Solar Power will be available as “an eco-conscious Music Box,” which has visual content, handwritten notes, photos, and a download card. “I decided early on in the process of making this album that I also wanted to create an environmentally kind, forward-thinking alternative to the CD,” Lorde said in a statement. “I wanted this Music Box product to be similar in size, shape and price to a CD, to live alongside it in a retail environment, but be something which stands apart and that’s committed to the evolving nature of a modern album.”

I mean I wouldn’t buy it anyway, but digital download sucks ass.

the download card gives you a link to Mariah's Music Box instead

theoretically i love this idea and would love for someone to do something interesting with it, but ultimately lol @ $22 for a box full of paper

Sounds like what Biophilia Records has been doing for several years. (They send out CD-Rs as promos, though, which kinda subverts the point.)

this isn't a bad idea honestly, j-pop and k-pop artists already incentivize their fans to buy their physical media by including collectible items, lorde is just taking it a step further by removing the physical media lol

is $22 a high price for what's essentially a scrapbook, sure, but it does price in the cost of the digital album as well.

tbh it has grown on me since i made fun of it

When an artist big enough to still sell physical media decides only to sell MP3s, I fear it further normalizes/promotes the devaluing of audio quality. But sadly I may be fighting a losing battle there.

making out you're ecologically friendly by selling and shipping any sort of physical media is charlatanry of a profound order lmao

what if it's all made from bamboo

does this music box include the chapbook that dude from Animal Collective was supposed to make about his trip to Mali

It’s like when Richard D. James did an NFT thing a few months ago, and wrote about how he would maybe give some money to a tree-related charity, if he could find one, mumble mumble

even if made from bamboo it needs to be distributed by bicycle courier or else it's bullshit

or tie in 'solar power' and distribute them all by photovoltaic drone

the fact lorde passed up THAT opportunity reveals herself as the creatively bankrupt dickhead we know her to be

as mockable as the idea is, we're in "you're using an iPhone to text about climate change???" territory and we should avoid that tbh

we're in 'she said she was doing it to be ecologically friendly, lol' territory tbf

imago otm, she's selling a product not speaking out politically

Melodrama's vinyl release lagged the digital release by almost a year... I couldn't be bothered with it by that point. That was pretty eco conscious of her.

When an artist big enough to still sell physical media decides only to sell MP3s, I fear it further normalizes/promotes the devaluing of audio quality. But sadly I may be fighting a losing battle there.

Don't know what Lorde is doing but the Biophilia people sell downloads in the format of your choice. FLAC, WAV, whatever.

it's all solar power, really. some of it just goes through inefficient processes that make the energy easier to store and transport, also releasing byproducts that increase the mean temperature of Earth and change the climate. So is she really even a hypocrite? think about it.

if they're actually handwritten notes, it's a good idea. just sell all your scrap paper.

i don't think it's a bad song really but "solar power" could be redeemed by a remix... or it could also become legendarily awful. either way i want to see it happen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_A20lBsBMM

Stoned at the nail salon

Was just listening to this; I think it's nice...

(p-fork with the neg, lol)

it's an ok enough album track but nothing to be excited about

It’s super weak as a single assuming this is even a single.

i'm assuming it's the thing pop artists often do where they put out an album track for buzz without intending to give it a big radio push? idk

Not sure how “singles” are even supposed to work in 2021 tbh