STACK #202 Aug 2021

FEATURE MUSIC

much all the time. Feels like I‘ve grown a lot since then... I didn‘t really know yet that you make a record and get filled up, and then releasing it empties you.“ Before her sign-off, she included the tantaslising sentence: “Third one in the oven.“ But plain sailing it was not to be. Five months after announcing things were

And she was right: Solar Power is completed, and it's as wide and bright as anything Yelich- O'Connor had ever made. It seems her creative co-op with Antonoff is bearing ever juicer fruit. The album‘s lead single and titular track is sun- kissed from all angles, and Lorde relishes every sibilant moment in its lyrics as if she‘s biting into one of the “overripe peaches“ of her beach

3 SCOOPS FROM SETH Last month Lorde performed Solar Power ‘s second single Stoned At The Nail Salon on Late Night With Seth Meyers , but the musician also participated in Seth‘s ‘Day Drinking‘ segment, in which he mixes fanciful cocktails very loosely based on song titles. During the ensuing (increasingly drunken) exchange, we learned three things of note:

well underway, Yelich- O‘Connor received a

crushing blow – to not just the momentum of Solar Power ‘s creation, but to her heart‘s core. The musician took to her fan newsletter to explain that work had hit a hiatus, due to a period of mourning. “Pearl came into my life in 2018, and almost immediately changed everything for me,“ she wrote. “As anyone who has had the pleasure of raising a dog can understand, my life grew exponentially. Pearl brought an immeasurable amount of joy and purpose into my world.“ Lorde recalled the pair's beautiful bond, and Pearl's

picnic party. In a newsletter accompanying its release, she wrote: “There‘s someone I want you to meet. Her feet are bare at all times. She‘s sexy, playful, feral, and free. She‘s a modern girl in a deadstock bikini, in touch with her past and her future, vibrating at the highest level when summer comes around. Her skin is glowing, her lovers are many. I‘m completely obsessed with her, and soon you will be too.“ She later described the track as “the first of the rays“

Lorde relishes every sibilant moment of the lyrics, as if she‘s biting into one of the ‘overripe peaches‘ at her beach picnic party

Lorde and Seth Meyers, July 2021

1. Lorde‘s favourite alcoholic drink is a martini This fact is particularly ironic due to Lorde‘s inability to recognise the late Sir Sean Connery in a later part of the segment, in which she and Seth had to name images of royals (geddit?). Connery‘s most famous screen character was James Bond, whose signature drink is... the martini. 2. When cheersing, she always uses one of two phrases They are: “Water under the bridge“, and “No hard feelings.“ Certainly more positive than that old Scottish favourite: “ You‘re born in pain, you live in fear, you die alone, Merry Christmas.“ (NB: this toast can be used on any occasion, including Christmas.) 3. She knows her name is annoyingly long Lorde both acknowledged that her birth name is long, and admitted that she has found that fact extremely irritating throughout her life (going so far as to use a swear).

adoration for the outdoors, where he “became a blurry speck of gold in the green, far away.“ She also revealed that Pearl‘s influence stretched far beyond mere companionship; she saw him as something of a lantern for her music, guiding her down the path of sonic exploration: “He was instrumental to the discovery that was taking place,“ she wrote. “I felt he led me towards the ideas. And it‘s going to take some time and recalibration, now that there‘s no shepherd ahead of me, to see what the work is going to be... But when this great loss crystallises inside me, and my chest rebuilds around it, hopefully I‘ll be able to finish up, and share it with you, and we‘ll all grow together, as we always do.“

which emanate from the album as a whole. “It‘s about that infectious, flirtatious summer energy that takes hold of us all, come June (or December, if you‘re a Southern Hemisphere baby like me). The track is the bach door opening on the record‘s world, a place which is, at its very kernel, deeply attuned with the natural environment. “The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I‘m outdoors,“ Lorde explains. “In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I‘ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.“

Still from Lorde‘s clip for single Solar Power

Solar Power by Lorde is out Aug 20, including on JB Hi-Fi exclusive sun-marbled orange vinyl (pictured), via Universal.

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