A sun this big, dominating the video screen, sheltered Lorde’s healing rite, invoking mother nature to the beat of pop with electronic complexion, this Friday in a Primavera Sound once again dominated by the crowds. The highly nuanced latest album by the New Zealander, ‘Solar power’, transmitted balsamic powers and messages to combat eco-anxiety, engaging in a dynamic dialogue with the most invasive past ‘hits’, material that made the Fòrum a joyous dance floor. Not for photographers, well the organization did not allow them to take pictures of Lorde.
Spring is coming to an end, this Saturday, but before that it lived another concentrated session of pop attractions of varied sign, with the crowds of every day and avoiding mishaps such as the failure of the computer system that, the previous morning, caused problems, for a couple of hours, in the bars of the central stages. None of that stopped Lorde from scoring a beautiful pass, with style, message and dance plots to lose sight of the world. Concert, however, with a festival format, somewhat reduced compared to those he has offered in venues in cities such as Paris or Amsterdam.
spiritual journey
The generational anxiety of their previous albums has given way to a more global and ecological reformulation, in touch with the ‘new age’, as suggested by the first song, ‘The path’, indicator of a spiritual journey. The material from the past (‘Homemade dynamite’, ‘Ribs’ or ‘The Louvre’, inspired this “in a summer date & rdquor ;, he made known) served to settle the ‘show’ with a growing electronic device, later giving way to themes new ones like ‘Secrets from a girl (who’s seen it all)’ and ‘Mood ring’, with the group forming a circle and handling acoustic guitars. Lorde, taking advantage of a beautiful voice without being dazzling, celebrated the meteorological bonanza these days in Barcelona, ideal for the defense of his ‘Solar power’, a theme that crowned the show with all its hedonism (“I hate summer / I can’t stand the cold”) and its similarities with ‘Loaded’, from Primal Scream. Before the galloping milestones fell: ‘Royals’, ‘Supercut’ and ‘Green light’.
female role
Friday’s was a day with other powerful female protagonists, including the southern American Brittany Howard, fleshy voice attentive to the soul-funk tradition with a gospel undertone, which gave new life to the achievements of his album ‘Jaime’ (2019), a work that continues unabated. The title of the album alludes to her older sister, who died at the age of 13 (in 1998) from eye cancer, which places us in the context of her work. Songs rich in personal tribulations, such as ‘Goat head’, a mirror of racism in the southern states (“who slashed my father’s tires and put a goat’s head in the back seat?”).
Word of Nina Simone
His pass combined the ‘funky’ gymnastics and the ballad with soul, from the elastic initial assault on ‘Hit it and quit it’, by Funkadelic, to the spiritual resonances of ‘He loves me’, a song in which he announces that he will not return to the church but who feels loved by God. And a heartfelt ‘Stay high’, with a brilliant vocal and Hammond organ texture. She is a profound singer and guitarist, she lends herself to the acid solo, she closed by invoking Nina Simone in ‘Revolution’ and taking us to the year of grace of 1969, so significant in terms of vindication of civil rights.
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Another tall figure, Australian Courtney Barnett, looked cheerful defending that author’s rock catalog with sharp lyrical reviews and well-tempered dynamics. The letter of introduction was ‘Rae street’ (from the album he released last year, ‘Things take time, take time’), a song that alludes to the street in Melbourne where he lives and from whose window he sees life go by and draws conclusions about the power of money and the danger of managing too high expectations in our existence (also in the environmental plane). From there to other songs on the album and to the rescue of celebrated numbers like ‘Avant gardener’, leaving a trail of indie-rock nobility that connected with the baptismal essences of Primavera Sound, a festival that already understands little about stylistic frontiers.