The second album from Lorde, Melodrama, shows an expansion of her already considerable range.
The New Zealand-born singer-songwriter whose real name is too wordy to write down isn’t looking for a hook or pop breakthrough — she’s a creative singer looking for new sounds. She connects anyway.
Lorde’s mannered and slightly weird performance on Saturday Night Live of Green Light didn’t do that song justice when heard without the visual. Her gig was reminiscent of Bjork but less alienating — far less. She has more of Kate Bush’s artistic flexibility and abstraction in her persona.
Her range and versatility are easy to hear on Liability. She taps into a downtempo, New York state of mind for a rich take on piano balladry.
The affinity she shares with co-producer/co-writer Jack Antonoff pays off on material like Perfect Places and Sober. They track with hazy atmospherics and thick beats that support Lorde’s expression and hint of drama. Likewise, the aforementioned Green Light reverses that and starts as a diss before moving into an unleashed display of pop intelligence and emotional connection.
The allure of Lorde’s music is it’s off kilter identity and air of mystery. Writer in the Dark is another haunting piano song that she transforms with cutting poetic lyrics and gothic passions.
Her sound is hard to label and her youth and range suggest a wide bandwidth of imagination and depth of inspiration. You can believe in Lorde’s music, although the source may remain tantalizingly out of reach.