Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Lorde, Universal 2021.
Firstly, I wish to thank Brad from DMIRS for pointing out the error in my review of the new Crowded House album.
It has certainly been much more than ten years since the band played their famous final concert at the Opera House.
I don’t know where the 10-year figure that I cited came from.
I must have been distracted by my old friend Al Symers when I was writing the review.
But now to today’s review of another Kiwi superstar.
New Zealand born pop sensation Lorde has released the title single of her up-coming album which is due to drop August 20.
Solar Power is making waves for a variety of reasons and one of them is the racy album cover.
The picture came about when her friend took a picture as Lorde was jumping over him/her and Lorde liked it because “it felt innocent and playful and a little bit feral and …sexy.”
It has certainly provoked substantial response within the media and online with the Late Show’s Stephen Colbert telling his audience, while interviewing Lorde, “Ordinarily I’d be holding a picture of the album… but CBS’ standards will not let me hold up the album because ironically for an album called ‘Solar Power’ there’s a photo on it of where the sun don’t shine.”
It’s all good publicity and I’m sure the album will sell in big numbers.
It’s been four years since we’ve had any new material from the supremely talented Kiwi so to say the album has been eagerly anticipated is an understatement.
Lorde gained international recognition when her 2012 self-released EP The Love Club peaked at #2 in both Australia and NZ with the single Royals peaking at #1 in the Billboard Top 100 chart.
It was her second album Melodrama, released in 2017, that really cemented her place in the upper echelon of pop icons when it debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, and virtually everywhere else around the globe, receiving widespread critical acclaim.
She’s already earned two Grammy Awards, Two Brit Awards and a Golden Globe nomination so she really is a superstar.
For a release in the middle of our winter Solar Power is a celebration of all things summer.
“I hate the winter, can’t stand the cold
I tend to cancel all the plans (so sorry, I can’t make it)
But when the heat comes, something takes hold
Can I kick it? Yeah I can”
The song title might have led many of us to assume that the album was going to be her call for action on climate change.
If the single is anything to go by it won’t be but it’s still a love letter to the warmer months and a more joyous and carefree lifestyle.
