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Lorde: Mainstream with inspiration

Primavera Sound 2018

By Sergio Pulido 19.05.18

She, Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, is from New Zealand, a country that is usually better known for its rugby stars than for its pop stars, except for the honorable exception of Crowded House in the 80's-90's. This very young woman (she is only 21 years old), burst onto the pop charts back in 2013, and it was a hurricane of fresh air for lists that were dominated by laboratory products. Under the artistic name of Lorde she sounded around the world with her hit "Royals" released when she was only 16, and she was instantly related to another teenage star of the 70s who composed and produced her songs herself and whose debut single was a complete succes: Kate Bush. Although Lorde's music has not yet entered the sonic complexities that the Englishwoman gave us from "The Dreaming" onwards, her impact was such that she began to rub shoulders with the greats: she's been commissioned the soundtrack of the second part of "Hunger games", people like Nile Rodgers or David Bowie wanted to meet her in person (and they did), and it was raised as the great promise of pop music, the figure from which we should expect great things, with the pressure that that implies, and more being a teenager in front of all the focuses of the music industry.

After a break and certain collaborations with artists like Disclosure, or the musicians of the Bowie band that called her to honor the recently deceased icon in the 2016 Brit Awards, Lorde released her second album last year: "Melodrama" an album almost conceptual, a disc of amorous rupture in which the singer is reflecting on what it means to be alone, with its pros and cons, and on a sound level with a more dance touch, more four to the floor than the hip-hop rhythms of its first production, and with the musical critics totally surrendered at her feet, and several important musical media choosing this production as one of the best works of 2017. The Primavera Sound is opting to renew its public by inviting young and current stars, at the right time. The nostalgia of the 90's is not bad, but the music continues and she is undoubtedly the best thing that is happening to pop today.

  • Lorde Primavera Sound 2018