Lorde’s work has always been mindful of cohesion. Even in the New Zealand native’s first record, “Pure Heroine” — a 10-song collection hastily thrown together after the unpredicted success of “Royals” — an underlying theme feels palpable: teenage turmoil, suburban boredom and the angst of growing older. And 2017’s “Melodrama” is essentially a concept album, mapping the singer’s thoughts on love, loss, heartbreak and hedonism across the events of a single house party.
So it seemed safe to assume that “Solar Power,” the singer-songwriter’s long-awaited third studio album, would follow suit, building itself from the ground up around a strong, cohesive theme. And this time around, Lorde seemed to have her sights set on a message of environmentalism. The trash dotting the otherwise spotless beaches in the album’s first music video — meant to be a celebration of New Zealand’s natural beauty — seemed to foreshadow larger conversations about the climate crisis. And in the name of waste reduction, Lorde’s team would forgo the production of CDs, instead opting for the diskless “Music Box,” a plastic-free and “forward-thinking” alternative with a digital download code.
But this theory would soon be chopped down. “Solar Power” might be a lot of things, Lorde told The Guardian in June, but it wouldn’t be her “big climate change record.”
So what would it be instead?
Fans eagerly awaited the album’s release to find out — but when “Solar Power” finally hit the airwaves, they realized the answer might not be as simple as they thought.
For many, “Solar Power” seemed to draw a line in the sand. Critics weren’t too impressed. Longtime and hardcore fans were disappointed. Twitter had a field day, and they blamed it all on Lorde’s newfound happiness.
Immediately following its release, most negative reviews of “Solar Power” condemned the vast stylistic departure from its predecessors — without much care for the consequences, the album trades the emotional intensity and skintight production of Lorde’s earlier discography for ambivalent messaging and flowy, meandering melodies. Lyrics that once spoke to entire generations may now only resonate for those who have experienced a summer in New Zealand. And songs no longer end with a bang; they fade out without much fanfare, and often without a bridge or a second verse.
But that was more than three months ago. It’s December, and the Northern hemisphere is far from “Solar Power” weather — we all had the chance to have our hot Lorde summer. Now, with hindsight on our side, an even larger problem emerges: a distinct lack of the thematic cohesion that Lorde is known for.
“Solar Power” feels …….
Source: https://ndsmcobserver.com/2021/11/solar-power-retrospective/