Get Culptured: Lorde’s Melodrama

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Get Culptured: Lordes Melodrama

Astrid Culp, Columnist

Lorde was 16 when she first released Royals, an antiestablishment pop song that catapulted her into the mainstream. Then, as quickly as she took the music scene by storm, Lorde (birth name Ella Yellich-O’Connor) disappeared. June marked the release of her first album since 2013’s Pure Heroine, and it does not disappoint.

You might remember Ella as moody teenager fixated on her youth, but her sophomore offering Melodrama shows that she’s matured into a thoughtful young woman who’s experienced much of the real world and realizes that though growing older has its issues, maybe it isn’t such a bad thing after all. And while Melodrama at its most basic look appears to be a breakup album, songs like Liability explore the feelings of inadequacy following a hurtful relationship, while the album ends with Perfect Places, celebrating the messiness of life and its unpredictability.

Lorde has grown up, as have many of her listeners. Her newest songs perfectly encapsulate teen relationship agony while reflecting upon the irony of it all. Melodrama is explicit, raw, and honest, and make the listener want to dance, cry, and laugh, all at the same time. It’s truly a work of art.