Lorde - Melodrama (2017)

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

Turns out Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo both guest on it (I didn’t even register other vox)

they did backing vocals on "solar power" too

sub-LDR

Boring tune, sadly.

I also think the “all the music you loved when you’re 16 you’ll grow out of” line sticks out to me as a particularly bad one, partly because it’s trying to pass itself off as wisdom, but comes across as naive. And mostly because it makes me cringe out of recognition. It’s the exact sort of thing I know I would’ve said at Lorde’s age, as I tried to convince myself I had grown up, become an adult and left anything that could be considered childish. And now I keep getting older and I realise I absolutely love the shit out of the music I loved when I was 16, but with an even deeper intensity because of the memories that I’ve accumulated related to it over the years.

lorde probably thinks that line is well clever and deliciously ironic or something

We'll always have the beach

I still like most of the music I liked when I was 16.

Past Lorde albums are very consistent in terms of sound palette and moods and this seems to be on par. This time I guess she’s going for a “campfire on the beach” vibe which I don’t mind and could be the laying ground for some great music but so far the two songs released sound very unremarkable to me.

have been trying to work out what I don't like about her new stuff and think I've finally figured it out.

https://i.postimg.cc/dVp69wYQ/Screen-Shot-2015-11-09-at-7-12-14-PM-thumb-png-521ae0913e2f6741ad3df0f04008c56a.png

Pretty much!

"all the music you loved when you're 16 and you now think you've grown out of you'll grow out of thinking you grew out of"

my response to this song is “what’s so amazing about really deep thoughts”

"all the music you loved when you're 16 and you now think you've grown out of you'll grow out of thinking you grew out of"

Well, pretty much my experience. Maybe she'll get there someday too

Haven't heard this new song yet, but when I saw the title it really struck me as her desperately trying to write a Lana Del Rey song.

Turns out Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo both guest on it (I didn’t even register other vox)

Phoebe Bridgers is this year's Pitbull: T/F?

Watching Lorde day drink with Seth Meyers was p funny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krYT0dRihbk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P103bWMdvtA

i like this one more, successfully leans into its vibe better than the other two. still suspect the album is going to be kinda dull though