– Goonja Basu, Staff Writer
This Women’s History Month, we are highlighting different women artists all month! “Man of the Year” might be the song that flames an ex-lover for their lack of understanding, but who understands what it means to be Woman of the Month more than Lorde? To learn more about her and her music, read this article!
See the Veins of My City…
Lorde, surprisingly enough, is not the artist’s given name! Born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, the New Zealand-based artist chose to “feminize” the title of nobility, as per a fixation she had when she picked the name without much thought at sixteen.
It was at the same age that she released her debut album, Pure Heroine, and rose to stardom, with songs like “Royals” and “Team.” These are among the tracks that have undoubtedly gotten the most playtime in audiences’ ears. Her adolescence in Auckland gives inspiration to most of the tracks on Pure Heroine. She grappled with the loss of “[f*cking] with the fun again when I’m known” and forgetting her old address. From the beginning of her career, including these small and specific details in the lyrics of her songs has characterized her relatable storytelling.
But Pure Heroine was not her beginning. That started with appearances on radio shows and local live venues, performing covers until she was signed to Universal Music Group at thirteen. The Love Club EP would come before the album. It was released on Soundcloud, and it reached widespread popularity, introducing Lorde to the world, particularly as the youngest artist to reach the number one spot on Billboard with “Royals” in the 21st century.
Throw My Cellular Device in the Water (The Repeated Four Year Hiatus)
When you’re a fan of Lorde, you know how to navigate those four-year-long dry spells between each album. While Lorde foresees that the occurrence might disappear in her current stage of life, Melodrama came four years after Pure Heroine. Solar Power four years after that, in 2021, and Virgin most recently in 2025. If that’s the amount of time it takes to curate the perfect melodies, then I’ll gladly give Lorde a thousand four years.
Melodrama proved that the artistry shown in Pure Heroine was not a one-off chance from an emo teenager. It is a continuation of the complicated emotions of growing up, marked still in Lorde’s music almost ten years later. “Green Light” has given inspiration to many iconic pop culture moments: the play John Proctor is the Villain centered on the song most recently, but the Nick and Jess scene from New Girl will always be my favorite moment with that track.
Melodrama, just like Pure Heroine before it, engages with a new stage of life as Lorde moved into New York City and dealt with romantic relationships and their struggles. Despite discussing her life and her interpersonal relationships, her music always roots itself in a place that comes back to understanding who she is. Solar Power understands this just as well, with songs like “Stoned at the Nail Salon” and “Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen it All)” alluding to her growing wisdom.
But Solar Power wasn’t a fan favorite when it was originally released. It was starkly something different from her first two albums, but that has frankly been the scenario with every one of Lorde’s albums. With Virgin, Lorde takes a more electric beat to come to terms with her past and deal with her present. She began the era with “What Was That” and the social media-popular “Man of the Year,” with an end not quite yet in sight as she tours the album around the world with a spectacle of a show, which is truly just a marvel to watch.
Down the Back, but Who Cares? Still the Louvre
I’ve lived my life as marked by seeing Lorde live in concert: 2018, Melodrama World Tour. 2021, the Solar Power Tour. 2025, here at TD Garden to watch the Ultrasound World Tour. I only regret not seeing her during the Pure Heroine era, but I was seven so I’ll have to forgive myself.
All of this to say, I consider myself quite the connoisseur of Lorde music. Here are a few picks to get you started if you’re looking to delve into her world:
“400 Lux” from Pure Heroine
The song entirely encapsulates the dread and euphoria of growing up, the low hum in the background comforting and anxiety-inducing at the same time. “You drape your wrists over the steering wheel / Pulses can drive from here / we might be hollow but we’re brave” is a lyric that only begins to emphasize her detail-oriented and alarmingly identifying lyrics.
“Hard Feelings/Loveless” from Melodrama
It may be cheating to pick a two-in-one song as a recommendation, but it’s my favorite on this album. Lorde strikes you right between the “Ribs” (get it?) with her confrontation of tender and heartbreaking love; lines like “But I still remember everything / how we’d drift buying groceries / how you danced for me” contrasting with a rough commentary on hookup culture in the second part of the song: “All f*cking with our lovers’ heads generation.”
“Big Star” from Solar Power
Written as an ode to her late dog Pearl, “Big Star” tackles the quiet devastation of grief, somehow still imbuing the essence of summer that trickles through the rest of the album. With lyrics like “But every perfect summer’s gotta take its flight / Now I watch you run through the amber light,” Lorde shows her diversity between exciting beats and slower songs, her lyricism the tie that connects it all.
“Shapeshifter” from Virgin
“Shapeshifter” is the song that easily dismantles you and breaks you down to your core, and you didn’t even know it was possible. With allusions to being ice and flames, prizes and a ball and chains, the dice and the magic eight, Lorde casts the net of what it is like to want to be liked, and yet be entirely singular.
