The roast number is over, here is the Virgin Summer. At least when it comes to pop anthems that feel like transcendence-Lorde has made it again. “Solar Power” is now four years ago, her feather -light celebration of life. The present does not feel easy, not even for a Lorde that has not only been on a world tour in recent years, but has also experienced a separation. Ouch.
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But where is pain best? Of course on a dance floor – it sounds like “Virgin”, her fourth album. On the cover we see the X -ray image of a pelvis, including contraceptive spiral in the uterus. In any case, this Virgin is prepared. Apart from the fact that, according to Lorde, it should not be about virginity, but rather about independence, androgynia and about remaining undisguised.
A master to keep reinventing herself in new sound worlds and at the same time recognizable to remain true to itself
And this version of Lorde would like to lose this: Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor aka Lorde sounds uninhibited in the best sense, wild, ecstatic. You and your new producer Jim-E Stack, with support from other producers: inside like Dev Hynes and Buddy Ross, built electronic scaffolding, which go fully on the twelve like single and MDMA loved ones, and sometimes remain very minimalistic like “Man of the Year” or the intensive “Current Affairs ”.
Lorde is a master to keep reinventing herself in new sound worlds and at the same time recognizable to remain true to himself. Even if it is of course a masterfully curated picture of authenticity that the pop icon creates itself when it sings of pregnancy tests (“Clearblue”) or heartache (“David”). Whether real, constructed, or both at the same time: With this lord, we will dance at least until the end of this summer.
This review appears in the MusikExpress 7/25.