New Zealand's Lorde, one of the pop sensations of recent years is back, with Solar Power, her first album since 2017's Melodrama. It's full of thoughtful ruminations on the travails of being a Modern Pop Star. Full of great Pop songs too, so not one that will disappoint her legion of fans but also an admirable record of a young artist stating that she will be the one who decides where she wants to go next.
Being from and living in New Zealand must be a boon in this respect. This is a record that her devotees will recognise while also being obliged to realise that she's not someone who's content to run on the spot. This though is a slightly more laidback but also strangely assertive one than what they've been used to.
In some ways it seems to be a rejection of the surface glamour and veneer of supermodels and the trappings that LA represents as much as anywhere else. Why would you want to fall for all that when you have all of the natural beauty that surrounds you on your doorstep.
I haven't completely found a way in to Solar Power on my first couple of plays but I do recognise it as a very strong record. Not in retreat by any means but taking a different route from the one that might be expected of her towards her self realisation as an artist.
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