Lorde is my latest obsession (that sounds like a tag-line for perfume). At first I liked her debut, Pure Heroine, a couple of months on it is my staple listen. The perfect off-centre pop record hits my ears at least once a day, maybe more and every time my love for it strengthens.
On the same day that Beyonce shocked us with her surprise album Lorde popped up with No Better, a new single, not on Pure Heroine, following that comes a rerelease of Pure Heroine with six extra songs. When other artists do this it usually means a few songs not good enough or unsuitable for the original release but Lorde doesn't do weak songs.
The album already included the brilliant chart topper Royals, the simple but brilliantTeam, the infectious, hard-growing-up anthem, Ribs and the youthful White Teeth Teens where innocence is at the forefront, all showcasing the high quality songwriting skills for this young lady who plays with looping samples and lyrics commentating on life as a teen.
It features the song that kicked it all off for Lorde, The Love Club, which might even be a better song than Royals. Lorde isn't your average pop star, she redefines the model, the potential is huge but why look to the future when the present is good enough. No Better messes with genres as it does with words, spoken, almost rap-like, whilst Million Dollar Bills isn't like anything she has done before and Swingin Party shouldn't have been written by somebody who would have been taking the New Zealand equivalent of GCSE's if it wasn't for a YouTube video impressing A&R's.
2013 has been mad real for Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O'Connor, who knows what 2014 has in store!