Twenty-year-old indie pop artist Lorde will drop her new album “Melodrama” this summer. Until then, fans can get a taste of what is to come with her two newest singles, “Green Light” and “Liability.”
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While neither song is likely to become as commercially successful as “Royals,” each one shows a different side of her development as an artist.
“Green Light,” the first single released from the new album, has a more traditionally pop sounding chorus than its predecessors on the 2013 album “Pure Heroine.”
However, Lorde’s quirky, pensive and slightly dark edge still manages to shine through. Her subtle but clever use of a metaphor comparing rumors to sharks separates the song from the average pop breakup song.
While the subject matter is more somber, the song is catchy and upbeat, mirroring her desire to move on from the breakup.
Her second single, “Liability” is much slower and darker than the first. She begins the song with lyrics about crying in a taxi after getting hurt from a relationship.
Before the song even reaches the chorus, the lyrics become a reminder of the importance of self-love, especially in the midst of fleeting moments and relationships.
“So I guess I’ll go home into the arms of the girl that I love, the only love I haven’t screwed up,” Lorde sings. “She’s so hard to please, but she’s a forest fire.”
It becomes clear that the girl Lorde is referring to is herself, when she sings, “We slow dance in the living room, but all that a stranger would see is one girl swaying alone, stroking her cheek.”
What is so refreshing about Lorde is the thought she puts into her lyrics. Her lyrics are not only those of emotional honesty, but also those of self-reflection.
Having come into the spotlight at a mere 16 years old, the depth of her lyrics came as a surprise to some. Her younger fans, however, saw her lyrics as raw and mirroring their own complexities and, at times, conflicting thoughts and feelings.
Lorde never let her youth become a liability, and needless to say, it’s good to have her back. “Melodrama” is slated to be released June 16.