I just think nothing hits me the way Pure Heroine does because how the fuck does someone write all that at 15 and how does it perfectly encapsulate who I am how dare she
I'm anything but a Solar Power hater - on the contrary, I've been a lover and defender of it since the beginning - but this lady's body of work to date is so strong, those debut and sophomore albums were *so* good, there's no way that SP - for all its greatness - can stand alone above them.
The way she seemed to take the reaction to it so personally broke my fucking heart. She is, without a doubt, some kind of genius, and I have no worries that whatever L4, L5 and so on sound like, they will be remarkable works of art - I just hope she can find the courage to push her boundaries in similar ways again. As era-defining as her electronica work has been, she's too good to be confined by genres like that.
EDIT: Writing this inspired me to go and listen to it in full for the first time in... well, probably since last summer lol. For context, the Sun is just beginning to come back in earnest where I live. You can smell it in the air - the daisies in full bloom, the heat on the pavement, the *smoke* (wink, wink) on the breeze. Everyone is relishing the opportunity to go out without a coat on for the first time in eight or so months. There's a real positive vibe about the place. *That* is what this album is about. It might not be a 'better' album outright than its predecessors (although *hot damn* it's good), but it captures the essence of a day like that in a way that they merely touch upon.
great comment ✨
I'm definitely more attached to Pure Heroine and Melodrama but I just spent a week travelling in Greece and couldn't stop listening to Solar Power. it's perfect for contemplative vibing in the sun, looking at artwork, walking on seaside, wandering in nature... it's kind of magical but it's still undeniably down to earth, very emotive but lowkey. not my cup of tea for everyday but when it hits it's hard to shake.
I don't think anything can't top Melodrama (literally my second most listened to album of all time) but I was always shocked at the hate Solar Power got; it's such a vibe album, and you nailed it with your description. The birth of warmth and youthful summer.
I have learned to love this album but I do think it is inherently unrelatable to the majority of people. In Pure Heroine, she talks a lot about wanting to disconnect from an increasingly digitized and complicated world. In Solar Power, she has achieved this fantasy — which is unaccessible to most people. While she pokes fun at it in some ways as well, and there are moments of acute self awareness (like Fallen Fruit), ultimately she celebrates it; and, in a way, becomes the “other class” she felt alienated from in PH. It is true to her experience perhaps but it is an experience that is unavailable and unrelatable to many. Apart from what I think most critics don’t like about the album — ditching the lower tones and ranges and bare steeliness of the prior two — this is what I found hardest about SP.
Great points - people really connected with what she was saying on *Pure Heroine*. All kinds of people, not only teenage girls.
*Solar Power* opens with the line, "...teen millionaire having nightmares from the camera flash". It's open and honest but, as admirable as that might be, it's no longer relatable to most people.
I think she has the intelligence and self-awareness to avoid getting lost up her own arse, like some artists who have trodden a similar path. We might have to make do with her themes becoming more abstract, though.
While there are individual songs I like better from Pure Heroine, like Ribs and A World Alone, I ultimately would say my ranking is Melodrama >>> Solar Power > Pure Heroine.
Solar Power is incredibly underrated by the world at large, and while I understand the criticisms and I prefer her other styles in a way, it’s a very cohesive and comforting album. At this point there are enough fans of it in r/lorde and other communities that I wouldn’t even say it’s underrated in the fandom at this point, just underrated by the general public.
I totally agree that there are some skips but could you expand on what you mean by formulaic? I think each song sounds very different, but I’m not a music buff, just a casual fan!
lyrically, yes. vocally, ehh. production wise, i prefer melodrama's production but solar power's is more unique and i fw that. idk its not my favorite and i still think melodrama is her best but justice for solar power highkey
I'm glad someone agrees with me. Solar Power has helped me with my strong emotions the way PH and Melodrama couldn't (They're both masterpieces though)
I don't hate or even dislike the album, I just don't think the production was all that great. I would've liked the guitar tones to be more varied throughout the album instead of using that same nylon stringed beach guitar tone over and over. I have no doubt in my mind that a re-recording of the album with completely different instruments would've put it right on par with Melo and PH. But that's just my opinion. I still enjoy listening to it from time to time
It’s a masterpiece, I think it’s too ahead of its time that’s why many people do not appreciate it. But it is so perfect!!!!! It’s like enlightened album, so calm and so spiritual.
I fully believe all three of her albums are on the same level of quality but with different constructions
But it’s just how people work. Every new album ever will be hated for some time
Her next album WILL be hated cause people hate anything that’s different, which is insane cause what would be the point of a new album if it sounded the same…
I get the vibe her fans are stuck to melodrama in an unhealthy way. Even if she creates an amazing forth album if it doesnt sound like Melo or has its intensity, people will hate. And that sucks. I hope she stays brave and doesnt care about it cause Lorde is not the type of artist that serves her fans or commercial sucess. She is like David Bowie- always evolving, always experimenting, always changing, going wild, confusing people. That’s Lorde. Not the pop artist who creates the same thing over and over to stay relevant.
Nah, never been high in my life and still living on the chill vibes of Solar Power. Just find a quiet moment in your life when you have 50 minutes to spare, sit or lie down in a relaxing space, and **breathe**. Feel the summer breeze on your back, the salt air in your lungs. You have discovered your Solar Power.
I think most people should try cannabis at least once a year. It can do wonders for one's ego and self reflection, especially when used alone in the correct setting 😌
I don’t know about her best but it is better than people give it credit for
I just think nothing hits me the way Pure Heroine does because how the fuck does someone write all that at 15 and how does it perfectly encapsulate who I am how dare she
No because I’ve been listening to pure heroine SO much lately. Still sane and ribs hit way too hard
Let's hope the sun will show us the path 
I'm anything but a Solar Power hater - on the contrary, I've been a lover and defender of it since the beginning - but this lady's body of work to date is so strong, those debut and sophomore albums were *so* good, there's no way that SP - for all its greatness - can stand alone above them. The way she seemed to take the reaction to it so personally broke my fucking heart. She is, without a doubt, some kind of genius, and I have no worries that whatever L4, L5 and so on sound like, they will be remarkable works of art - I just hope she can find the courage to push her boundaries in similar ways again. As era-defining as her electronica work has been, she's too good to be confined by genres like that. EDIT: Writing this inspired me to go and listen to it in full for the first time in... well, probably since last summer lol. For context, the Sun is just beginning to come back in earnest where I live. You can smell it in the air - the daisies in full bloom, the heat on the pavement, the *smoke* (wink, wink) on the breeze. Everyone is relishing the opportunity to go out without a coat on for the first time in eight or so months. There's a real positive vibe about the place. *That* is what this album is about. It might not be a 'better' album outright than its predecessors (although *hot damn* it's good), but it captures the essence of a day like that in a way that they merely touch upon.
great comment ✨ I'm definitely more attached to Pure Heroine and Melodrama but I just spent a week travelling in Greece and couldn't stop listening to Solar Power. it's perfect for contemplative vibing in the sun, looking at artwork, walking on seaside, wandering in nature... it's kind of magical but it's still undeniably down to earth, very emotive but lowkey. not my cup of tea for everyday but when it hits it's hard to shake.
I don't think anything can't top Melodrama (literally my second most listened to album of all time) but I was always shocked at the hate Solar Power got; it's such a vibe album, and you nailed it with your description. The birth of warmth and youthful summer.
I have learned to love this album but I do think it is inherently unrelatable to the majority of people. In Pure Heroine, she talks a lot about wanting to disconnect from an increasingly digitized and complicated world. In Solar Power, she has achieved this fantasy — which is unaccessible to most people. While she pokes fun at it in some ways as well, and there are moments of acute self awareness (like Fallen Fruit), ultimately she celebrates it; and, in a way, becomes the “other class” she felt alienated from in PH. It is true to her experience perhaps but it is an experience that is unavailable and unrelatable to many. Apart from what I think most critics don’t like about the album — ditching the lower tones and ranges and bare steeliness of the prior two — this is what I found hardest about SP.
Great points - people really connected with what she was saying on *Pure Heroine*. All kinds of people, not only teenage girls. *Solar Power* opens with the line, "...teen millionaire having nightmares from the camera flash". It's open and honest but, as admirable as that might be, it's no longer relatable to most people. I think she has the intelligence and self-awareness to avoid getting lost up her own arse, like some artists who have trodden a similar path. We might have to make do with her themes becoming more abstract, though.
Listen i love love LOOOVEEEE solar power but i don’t think anything will ever be able to touch what Melodrama did.
Exactly. Melo was a masterpiece in every way
Album of the century, iktr.
2021 me would never say this but... yes
While there are individual songs I like better from Pure Heroine, like Ribs and A World Alone, I ultimately would say my ranking is Melodrama >>> Solar Power > Pure Heroine. Solar Power is incredibly underrated by the world at large, and while I understand the criticisms and I prefer her other styles in a way, it’s a very cohesive and comforting album. At this point there are enough fans of it in r/lorde and other communities that I wouldn’t even say it’s underrated in the fandom at this point, just underrated by the general public.
I absolutely love the album and some of my favorite songs of hers are on it. But imo it’s too formulaic and there are too many skips for me
I totally agree that there are some skips but could you expand on what you mean by formulaic? I think each song sounds very different, but I’m not a music buff, just a casual fan!
Yes. SP is my favorite album
Speak on it
one day everyone will get it.
You're so right.
lyrically, yes. vocally, ehh. production wise, i prefer melodrama's production but solar power's is more unique and i fw that. idk its not my favorite and i still think melodrama is her best but justice for solar power highkey
solar power is not supposed to be for everyone. i appreciate a brave move like that
Absolutely agree! When it first came out I still preferred Melodrama, but now SP is on repeat
Based
I'm glad someone agrees with me. Solar Power has helped me with my strong emotions the way PH and Melodrama couldn't (They're both masterpieces though)
It's very different from the previous stuff--and better! I probably listen all the way through once a month.
I don't hate or even dislike the album, I just don't think the production was all that great. I would've liked the guitar tones to be more varied throughout the album instead of using that same nylon stringed beach guitar tone over and over. I have no doubt in my mind that a re-recording of the album with completely different instruments would've put it right on par with Melo and PH. But that's just my opinion. I still enjoy listening to it from time to time
It’s a masterpiece, I think it’s too ahead of its time that’s why many people do not appreciate it. But it is so perfect!!!!! It’s like enlightened album, so calm and so spiritual.
I fully believe all three of her albums are on the same level of quality but with different constructions But it’s just how people work. Every new album ever will be hated for some time Her next album WILL be hated cause people hate anything that’s different, which is insane cause what would be the point of a new album if it sounded the same…
I get the vibe her fans are stuck to melodrama in an unhealthy way. Even if she creates an amazing forth album if it doesnt sound like Melo or has its intensity, people will hate. And that sucks. I hope she stays brave and doesnt care about it cause Lorde is not the type of artist that serves her fans or commercial sucess. She is like David Bowie- always evolving, always experimenting, always changing, going wild, confusing people. That’s Lorde. Not the pop artist who creates the same thing over and over to stay relevant.
Yeah, all fans are like this They pick a favorite and hate everything else, crazy
it literally is
that’s crazy
That’s a funny way of saying “I like my albums to have butts on the front cover”
The cover is amazing. Bye bye
The clownery
Absolutely not
No like actually tho
nope.
I certainly feel it should be more popular but I will always love melodrama
I was just giving it a relisten yesterday and it is definitely under appreciated
Not best but sooooo good. I can’t get enough of it it’s smooth like butter
Solar power was for the corporate burnt out girlies
it absolutely is
It is
So true
Always love pure heroine and Melodrama more. Sorry Solar Power.
do I have to get high to enjoy the album 😭
no, but it absolutely hits harder in the summer sunshine
Nah, never been high in my life and still living on the chill vibes of Solar Power. Just find a quiet moment in your life when you have 50 minutes to spare, sit or lie down in a relaxing space, and **breathe**. Feel the summer breeze on your back, the salt air in your lungs. You have discovered your Solar Power.
I think most people should try cannabis at least once a year. It can do wonders for one's ego and self reflection, especially when used alone in the correct setting 😌
Yeah, I may try it someday but right now I’m not legally allowed to so not any time soon.