By Emily Varno
The first time I heard the song Royals, I couldn’t get enough of it. I knew it was going to be a huge hit. Now, you can’t listen to the radio without hearing it multiple times a day, and other artists, including Selena Gomez, are covering it during their own shows.
Lorde, the mastermind behind this unique and powerful song, is a regular 17-year-old from Auckland, New Zealand. She’s also one of the hottest new artists right now, and she’s not slowing down for anyone.
Lorde- who’s real name is Ella Maria Lani Yelich O’Connor- was a mere 12 years of age when she sang in her school’s talent show with a friend. They won the talent show, and her friend’s father then sent out recordings of it to various talent scouts. When Lorde was 13, a scout discovered her and signed her to Universal Music. At the age of 14, she began working with their songwriters. Since then, Lorde has released an EP album entitled The Love Club, and her more recent debut full-length album, Pure Heroine.
Pure Heroine was released in the U.S. on September 27th of this year, and in its first week sold 129,000 copies. The album is tangible evidence of Lorde’s hard work and love for her music. She sings about her own teenage experiences, along with her own opinions of the state of the music industry. In one of her songs entitled “Team”, she unapologetically sings, “I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air”. She is referencing all the club anthems on the radio, which rely on catchy beats instead of lyrics and encourage dancing fads like fist-pumping.
Another of her songs off the album, called “Tennis Court,” reflects Lorde’s personal experiences and a glimpse into the artist’s creative mind. In the first verse she sings, “I’m doing this for the thrill of it, killin’ it / never not chasing a million things I want”. In the second verse, she says, “Pretty soon I’ll be getting on my first plane / I’ll see the veins of my city like they do in space.” Most of her songs boast honest and straightforward lyrics like this, which is a breath of fresh air among the vast majority of songs on the radio these days. Lorde’s music is deep and personal, and she writes it as though it’s for herself and no one else, which I find to be refreshing and respectable.
Listening to these songs, you get a peek into what Lorde has been going through in the past year or so, and how she seemed to get famous overnight. Her lyrics are thought provoking and meaningful, and it’s quite evident that she’s poured her very being into her music. And the most amazing thing about it? She just turned 17 a month ago. For someone so young to have broken into the music industry and made such an impact is nothing short of amazing to me. I just hope she keeps it up. I think we can expect many more incredible things from Lorde in the future.
