ella is what one would call out, if they know her beyond the artistic phenomena that paints her every move. but in the audience of young bright-eyed admirers, one name thrums from their lips all the way down through their dancing fingertips: lorde.
picture source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QphYKntjSps
it is a royal name, and she is royal in the way she commands the worship of the entire population in the room. one minute it's vivid blues and greens, lighting the stage and lifting her up to colorful levels of unapologetic presence and resonant vocals. the next minute it's a dozen white light sticks strewn about in creative disarray while she sits atop a glass stage in a deep red dress, like a queen would sit atop a golden throne, ethereal and compelling.
what is most powerful though, is the way she performs. dances, sings. uninhibited and carefree, hair flying, feet twirling, and arms swaying, a blissful smile gracing her imperial features. she is a person who somehow grows more beautiful with each second you witness their innate greatness.
lorde has a heartbreakingly illustrious voice, and when it pairs with her poignant, well-written lyrics and lucid instrumentals, it creates a magic the world willingly surrenders to.
picture source: juno.co.uk
i can't put my finger on it. i can't understand exactly what it is. but this is what teenage sounds like. youth, heightened emotion, selfishness, love, despair, overwhelming joy, independence, rebellion and the whole of it.
it begins with the bite. big teeth and bitter love. an unapologetic, booming thrill ringing with the inescapable aftereffects of love. it's a song you scream to, throw your head back and let the wind blow your hair, dance on top of the table like you couldn't give a damn, throw your arms out above your head in euphoric abandon, twirl around in the middle of the lamplit street. it's a song you move to. a glittering start to a tracklist of truths that reach far beyond, into the safe spaces of our hearts, and rip them out into the open for us to cry and laugh over.
she has a way with painting pictures, weaving words. broadcasting heartbeats through the megaphones in our chests. slow like pseudoephedrine. dancing with the truth. kissing on light up floors. quiet afternoon crushes. violent overnight rushes. cleaning up champagne glasses. letting go of endless summer afternoons. hanging in the louvre (down in the back, but who cares).
melodrama is a musical renaissance of everything that lorde embodies. it is a mellifluous, poetic explosion that is stuck on repeat on my old cd player. she began when she was seventeen. now she is twenty one, and she has returned with the full force of her startlingly mature lyrics and poignant instrumentals. she is glorious and beautiful and infinite.