The Melo(w) in "Melodrama

“I thought I was a genius”

Solar Power

Lorde

Available on all leading music platforms

22 August 2021

12 Songs

After taking a break from the spotlight since she ended her 2017 Melodrama tour, Lorde is back with a third album. And she is chillin’. Hard. Compared to her last album Melodrama which was full of different change-ups and surprising beats, Solar Power is a very calm album filled with sun-kissed tracks to match the mega-hit singer’s new style.

Jhanya: Okay. I’m gonna be blunt here and say that this album was pretty bland and monotonous. Don’t get me wrong. The lyrics and their messages are good, but it all gets lost in the dreary music. This album has to be the one I most listened to, next to SOUR, but it’s not because I wanted to listen to it more. I had to because I would tune out mid-song and totally forget about the fact that I have to write a review on it. I know that the album’s overall genre isn’t really the type of music that I listen to, but so are folklore and Happier Than Ever. And both those albums I still listen to ‘til now even though they’re the only ones I do so in their specific genres.

Ria: I had high expectations for Solar Power. I absolutely loved Lorde’s previous albums Melodrama and Pure Heroine. I’m pretty sure I still memorize the songs on those albums. Thus, hearing that she had a new album underway, I was excited for the music she has made. However, Solar Power is a huge letdown for me. Listening to the album was very anticlimactic. Just like Jhanya, I probably zoned out more times than I’d like to admit.

Jhanya: Setting aside my mixed feelings for the album as a whole, Lorde did still do a good job in putting the whole thing together. Though some songs make the album seem incoherent, there are still some stand-outs.

Ria: What I did like about the album is that it was put together quite well. Even though it got boring real fast, the songs transitioned well and have a good overall meaning. I also think this album would be great for meditation or for relaxation, it still entirely depends on the person though.

Jhanya: The Path is a great album opener. It’s very straight to the point with the message that it’s trying to convey. Lorde is pretty much saying to the listener to not expect a pop-hit comeback in this album. That she’s not a savior, as she’s also broken like everyone else. And instead of waiting for this album or her to become something that will help you, the listener, just follow her journey, her story, through this path called Solar Power.

Solar Power is a good single. Its stone rock vibe with alt-dance undertones can really catch the listener’s attention. BUT I’m kinda confused with its message because it comes after a song where Lorde says I’m no Saviour, stuff like that. Which I can say is something I really noticed throughout this album.

Ria: Totally agree!! The Path and Solar Power are by far probably the songs that stood out to me the most. I think it’s maybe because these songs reminded me the most of her older songs? Not a hundred percent sure but after these two songs are when I zoned out the more frequently.

Jhanya: They all have these messages on how our thinking on “Wellness” is often misleading and how celebrities are always under this huge, blinding spotlight. However, even though they have similar messages, the songs also don’t relate to one another. The song Dominoes has a similar meaning/theme with some songs in the album Mood Ring but their message comes short when neither songs give a callback or at least a hint relating to one another. Things like these make the album pretty incoherent as a whole, despite the majority of them having very murky music.

Final Thoughts

Ria: Overall, I’m really sad. It seems she wanted a genre change but didn’t particularly execute well. The whole album is probably not something I would listen to voluntarily, as well. I’m happy with her change and with the general meaning it conveys but musically, it just doesn’t speak to me as much as her previous albums did. I think I probably just had too high expectations and was really let down with the result.

Jhanya: Lorde’s latest album, Solar Power, falls flat and is very underwhelming for me. I know she wants to change genres, but it just didn’t deliver for me. Solar Power is, and will always be just an album to the masses, that’s all it is. I won’t be surprised if it gets forgotten amidst all the music coming out this year. I don’t hate the album. I’m just underwhelmed and meh about it.