Lorde’s Solar Power Album- Ranked
Musician Lorde’s third Album Solar Power, while highly controversial among her fanbase, delivered a meaningful narrative in a way that only Lorde could. I was quite disappointed when it came out, because I was so used to the intense feelings of Pure Heroine and Melodrama, however, I’ve come to love the album because of its differences from her other works. While I agree that some songs were flops, many of them are beautiful pieces of art that represent just how much she has grown and honed her skills as an artist. These are my rankings and thoughts on each song (including the bonus tracks), but as a blanket statement, I’ll honestly love anything that Lorde does.
14. Helen of Troy- Bonus Track
I feel slightly guilty putting this one at the bottom, because to be honest, I have barely listened to it. The few times I have listened through, it simply didn’t stand out to me or leave any imprint on me other than the fact that it sounds like a song that could be on this album.
13. Secrets From a Girl (Who’s Seen it All)
The first time I listened to this song, all I thought was- Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocketful of Sunshine”. Now don’t get me wrong- that song has a special place in my heart, as does Lorde, but it was underwhelming to hear after Melodrama. I kept feeling like I was in an early-2000’s chick flick, and not in a cute way. This may be a biased judgment because I almost always dislike when artists include spoken word segments like phone calls or monologues, but the spoken word airplane announcements at the end were simply annoying to me and didn’t add anything to the song besides some interesting “emotional baggage” metaphors.
12. Dominoes
I’m divided on this song, because while the lyrics speak to something important, the music feels like something the crunchy girl in high school would play on her ukelele. I like the idea of “Mr. Start Again”, Lorde’s namesake for the song’s focus, a man who simply burns through the world and has the privilege to keep reinventing himself like the past doesn’t exist. It gives off this hateful envy that’s very relatable- seeing someone you knew, possibly an ex, getting “fifty gleaming chances in a row” to just ruin it and move on to the next thing (or person).
11. Stoned at the Nail Salon
The first thing I thought of when I heard this release was “is this a Lana Del Rey song?”. It has the flow and low-energy of a typical Lana song, as well as the hodge-podgery (is that a word?) of aesthetic and nostalgic imagery. Overall, this song is very confused, but I think that’s kind of the point- Lorde is doubting her own emotions, feelings, and musings, because maybe she’s just “stoned at the nail salon”.
10. Solar Power
I’m going to admit it, when I first heard this song, I hated it. It was giving me the energy of a song you’d see in a Target commercial while skinny women jump around in colored jeans. After a while, however, it grew on me. The catchy tune as well as the fun call to action is definitely something different for Lorde, but it made me excited to hear the rest of the album when she released this as a single. Also, she is a prettier Jesus.
9. The Path
It’s possible that by calling her a prettier Jesus, I am going against her wishes in this next song, the opening to her third album. She addresses the immense pressure that idolization can put on someone, as she feels like she is obligated to be a role model, especially to young girls. At the same time, referring to herself in the beginning of the song as a “teen millionaire having nightmares from the camera flash” shows that she, too, was simply a young girl when she rose to stardom and doesn’t know how to be the leader her fans want her to be. Instead, she advises us to look to the sun to “show us the Path”- meaning that she, too, needs guidance and doesn’t view herself as a “savior”.
8. Leader of a New Regime
This song is short, but powerful. I knew that this album was going to focus on climate change- which I thought was a very interesting pivot for Lorde, who usually delves more into the human psyche and emotions. The juxtaposition of vacation imagery with the idea that in the future, humans will have to wear “SPF 3000” to protect from ultraviolet radiation perfectly encapsulates the anxiety that Gen Z and Millenials feel as a result of the older generations’ damage to the earth. We’re overcome by “lust and paranoia” due to an apocalyptic sense of living life to the fullest- while we can.
7. Hold No Grudge- Bonus Track
The song’s meaning is in the title, Lorde expresses through this piece that despite holding onto past relationships and singing about them, she holds no grudge against them and has no place in her heart for hate. When I heard this bonus track, I felt it was similar to “Liability- Reprise” on her Melodrama album: a gorgeous callback to the themes and music from Solar Power, but in a way that feels like a cathartic release.
6. Big Star
I had no idea this piece was about Lorde’s dog, Pearl, who unfortunately passed away in 2019, but it made me cry all the same when I first heard it. It’s a sad, nostalgic tribute to a companion who loved her even though she felt like she wasn’t good enough. My favorite lyric is a reference to “Liability”, in my opinion, the saddest song she’s ever written; “But every perfect summer’s gotta say goodnight/ Now I watch you run through the amber light.” It’s a bittersweet feeling of understanding that rather than the power of good memories “eating me alive” like they do in “Liability”, she is now able to say goodnight to them and watch from a distance.
5. The Man with the Axe
As she states in the final lyric, this is a love song, through-and-through. Presumably about her “silver-haired” boyfriend Justin Warren, it refers to him as “The Man with the Axe” precisely because he is bringing her down to earth with his stability and maturity. Nothing feels sure in this song, as a lyric that I relate to all too well states; “I thought I was a genius, but now I’m twenty-two/ And it’s startin’ to feel like all I know how to do is/ Put on a suit and take it away”. This song’s slow, anxious pace is enchanting, but its true achievement is ending with a feeling of comfort- Lorde is able to translate this safety that “the boy with the plan” gives her, and show it to her listeners.
4. Fallen Fruit
I like this song for the same reasons I like “Leader of a New Regime”- it addresses the climate crisis, but even more directly- blaming those who are truly responsible, “the ones who came before us”. While those who routinely destroy the planet for profit view environmentalists as hippies with “psychedelic garlands in our hair”, the truth of the matter is that they are leaving behind a dead planet for their children. While they get to live in “splendor where the apple trees all grew”, all we will have left after they’ve destroyed our world is “the fallen fruit”. The layering of voices in the chorus is gorgeous and haunting- showing that this is not one person speaking out, but all young people begging those in charge to give a shit about them. There is another instance of “climate anxiety” like that in “Leader of a New Regime”, where she says, “But how can I love what I know I am gonna lose?”. This sentiment is ever-present in young people’s psyche, as many of us don’t even want to have children for fear of bringing them into a world of destruction. The end solidifies the despair of this piece- what sounds like construction equipment blares over Lorde’s singing, showing that anyone who speaks out is always overshadowed by capitalism.
3. Oceanic Feeling
I love this song. It’s the perfect closer for an album so nuanced and vocal for Lorde, who usually features much more instrumental tracks. It paints the picture of a perfect summer day, where anything is possible- she ruminates on what her daughter will look like, or whether she and her brother could go fishing. It seems like such a stark contrast from “Fallen Fruit”, a song that feels dark and doomful, but I think it's necessary to take the pressure off of anxieties that seem like life sentences. She focuses on the little things, with a smooth, chill vibe that feels like a breath of fresh air. In the second part of the song, she references her old look around the time of Pure Heroine; “Now the cherry-black lipstick’s gathering dust in a drawer/ I don’t need her anymore/ ‘Cause I got this power”. It’s an acknowledgement that the person she was back then is not the same as who she is now, and those people needed different things to support them. Lorde expresses how her energy and drive comes from the natural world many times in this album, I mean, it’s called Solar Power, and this song is a fitting conclusion for such a unique concept.
2. Mood Ring
Lorde has stated that this song is “full satire”, a critique of wellness culture as a farce; it is simply consumer culture that has been greenwashed to be aesthetically pleasing. She references how there’s always some new craze that claims to “cleanse” one’s soul or body, like “plants and celebrity news, all the vitamins I consume”. The choir-like vocals are beautiful, and create an ethereal, summery vibe, yet that factors into the deception; she makes all these sad attempts at “wellness” into something aesthetic, giving the song double irony. She looks to the “mood ring” to “tell me how I’m feeling”, as many of us do to our phones nowadays. Rather than individual opinion and feeling, it's about how we feel about a certain topic- we, meaning the popular collective. Now, the outro of this song actually draws from Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocketful of Sunshine”, which I find hilarious, because it highlights what I was discussing earlier but in a satirical way. Lorde is physically taking us to “some kinda place”; out of her album and back into the early 2000’s, where she says that she got some of the instrumental inspiration for this track. “Mood Ring” exercises Lorde’s lyrical prowess and self-awareness, while offering a very catchy tune that sticks in your head.
California
This was my absolute favorite song on the first listen-through of the album, and still is 8 months later. While many celebrities have written about their good and bad relationships with Hollywood, this one stands out to me because of its nonchalance- it feels freeing, yet substantive at the same time. My favorite lyric references a feeling that you don’t have to be a celebrity to relate to; “But every time I smell tequila/ The garden grows up in my mind again”. While she rests back home in New Zealand, the hunger and lust for life felt in California can be reignited in a second with the smell of tequila. Anyone that has been to a few parties in their lifetime knows how it feels to take that first drink after a long time- invigorating. The music then reflects this blooming feeling as it leads up to the chorus, feeding into the lust of this lifestyle, but then rejecting it, as she knows it’s not for her. It’s a complicated back-and-forth that kept me repeating this song over and over again on long walks, hot showers, and ocean drives.
Even if you didn’t love Solar Power as much as I did, I hope you take away some new information from this ranking and maybe give it a second listen- I promise it’s worth it.
Photo Credit: (Lorde/Universal Music)
