The opening sound of Lorde’s debut album had me imagining myself behind the wheel of a car during a city night-drive where the streetlights’ reflections on the windscreen appear cloudy under the raindrops that fall to beat.
Lorde, or Ella Yelich-O’Connor to her folks, is described as ‘a woman noted for courage and daring action’ and has achieved more than your average 16-year-old. Her debut single Royals zoomed straight to the number 1 spot in her homeland of New Zealand and became the first single by a female solo artist to be at the top of America’s Billboard Alternative Songs chart in fifteen years.
Back in Britain, the track Tennis Court was featured during the BBC coverage of the Women’s Single Final of Wimbledon earlier this year and despite its title, has little to do with actually playing tennis. The lyrics of the album’s opening track speak of friendship, love and work and the ‘tennis court’ is simply a hangout for Lorde and the fellow subject of the song.
The New Zealand singer doesn’t play any instruments on stage. And referring to Lorde as a singer would be musically incorrect of us – she titles herself a musician (bit of a stretch when she doesn’t play an instrument live) and focuses the mix of electric and poppy backing tracks around her voice which she says is her key effort. Em, we’re going to stick with the term ‘singer-songwriter’ when referring to Lorde from here on out…
There’s no hesitation that the singer-songwriter can sing, but with her vocal range not being very wide, it’s just as well she landed this gig all by herself – we can see Gary Barlow tearing through her on The X Factor for sounding samey. She signed her first record deal at just thirteen and hasn’t looked back since.
Our picks from the album alongside Tennis Court are Buzzcut Season and closing number, White Teeth Teens – a two-fingers-up to society’s mainstream teenagers, which angsty Janis Ian fans will love. Much of the album’s sound is sombre but Ribs gives way to a disco beat and if any of the tracks get remixed for the purpose of the dance floor, it’s going to be this one.
Overall a good album, but could do with a dose of variety. There were times when I found myself drifting off at the wheel…
[rating=4]
