Decker

Man I just LOVE this new title-track lead single by Lorde, produced by Jack Antonoff. It's so catchy and fun. Great Summer song! Fun video with "Midsommer Goes To The Beach" vibes.
As much as I as still obsessed with Melodrama, I like the new change in tone here.


And the new album cover is.....interesting.

JeffTheAlpaca

It has been awhile since she came out with new stuff.

I don't think her last album was a big smash or did not connect with as many people as Pure Heroine did.

Decker

It was a very well received album. Nominated for Album of the Year Grammy. I loved Melodrama.
But you’re right, it didn’t sell well at all. 400,000 Worldwide, 109,000 in the US. For contrast, Pure Heroine sold 6.000.000 Worldwide and 1,700,000 in the US. Wow, didn’t realize it was such a sophomore slump from a sales perspective. I think it’s a much better album than the first one.

jpcamb

well her SNL performance was odd at the very least for the last album, she came off as fairly spastic. I absolutely loved her first album, if memory serves she had a decent EP as well but I can't even remember the single from the follow-up.

Josh-da-man

Looks like she's Porky Piggin'.

Decker

It was pretty popular.

JeffTheAlpaca

Lets hope she was not a one hit or one album wonder.

She is one of those artists you want to see progress with each new album release.

Decker

Rule of thumb : if your first album is a huge hit, gets certified Diamond status from the RIAA, and wins you a Grammy for Song of the Year, then your second album debuts at #1 on the Billboard chart, gets an Album of the Year Grammy nomination, contains a lead single that Guardian and NME both pick as the #1 song of the year, and that album ends up as the #2 album of the year on Metacritic (behind only an album that won a Pulitzer Prize) , you are officially NOT a One hit song or one hit album wonder. ​​​​​​

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorde

JeffTheAlpaca

Her core fans will like her but she might not be able to regain that mass following and hits on the billboard charts like she did with her first album.

Decker

I'm not sure anyone can sell 10M albums anymore, certainly not in the Rock or Indie genres. But you're dismissing the possibility of continued commercial success for one of the most critically acclaimed singer/songwriters of the past decades before the release of her third album. And before she turns 25.

If having bad takes was an Olympic event, you'd be halfway to Tokyo right now.

Josh-da-man

"One hit wonder" is kind of a nebulous distinction, and probably the bane of every pop musician who has one song that's a monster hit.

Have any of her songs really stood out with the general public since "Royals?"

When you're a pop musician you can have a decades long career, a string of successful albums, but you get that one song that gets played to death that everyone and their grandmother knows, and you're forever a "one hit wonder" because that's the one song everyone thinks of when your name comes up.

I'm more a heavy metal guy (with some punk, industrial, and gothic thrown into the mix), so my favored genres don't really think in terms of "hits," though when I think of Lorde, the only song of hers I can think of is "Royals," or when I think of Sia, the only one that comes to mind is "Chandelier." And Billie Eilish is probably in that same boat with "Bad Guy."

But on the flipside, how many people who aren't heavy metal fans can think of a Black Sabbath song that isn't "Iron Man," or a Metallica song that isn't "Enter Sandman?" Or a Led Zeppelin song that isn't "Stairway to Heaven?"

I often get the sense that most artists are "one hit wonders," in the greater scheme of things. Most will have that one signature song that's closely identified with them... go up to a random person and ask them to name a Queen song that isn't "We Are the Champions," or a Pink Floyd song that isn't "Dark Side of the Moon," or a Springsteen song that isn't "Born in the USA," and they'll probably freeze. Some people might be able to come up with "Another One Bites the Dust," "Another Brick in the Wall," and "Born to Run" or "Dancing in the Dark," but unless you're a fan, it might be difficult.

Some can transcend that, like maybe Madonna, the Beatles, the Stones, or Michael Jackson, who I don't think really have any single songs that they're closely identified with.

Put me on the spot and ask me to name one Taylor Swift song, and I don't think I could do it.

dex14

Count Dooku

Ignoring the fact that bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Led Zeppelin were in the album business, not the singles business, and so talking about them having "hits" is pointless. At this point, generations after their prime years, the people that know their music appreciate the catalog.
Someone that only knows "Iron Man" just knows it from the movie. "Stairway to Heaven" was elevated to a place beyond the level of a song being a hit, and I would imagine that in 2021, a random person would be more likely to recognize "Immigrant Song" (although NOT from the title) from its use in movies, although whether they could connect it to a specific band is questionable.

Before the album "Born in the USA," Springsteen wasn't a singles artist, but anyone old enough to connect him to his 1980s hits knows that his all-time signature song is "Born to Run."

Anyone sentient knows that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a Queen song.

"Dark Side of the Moon" is an album, not a song. Pink Floyd only ever had one hit single, and it was "Another Brick in the Wall 2."

All these things are a matter of age. You say you can't name a Taylor Swift song, but I bet the average American woman under 35 could name five without pausing to think.

The Beatles had 30 top ten hits (most were #1 hits) in the US during the 60s, but 50 years later, even they are most associated with a handful of their songs (mostly sentimental ones). When you say they transcend the trap of only being remembered for some hits, it's because you choose to appreciate them for their catalog, impact, and legacy. I feel the same way about The Boss. Someone else feels that way about Black Sabbath and Taylor Swift. And it will remain to be seen if people feel that way about Lorde.

And, just FYI, the first song I associate with Billie Eilish is "Ocean Eyes," not "Bad Guy."

cdollaz

JeffTheAlpaca

I heard the new song but not that impressed. I miss the electro pop sound.

Decker

You heard the new song that I posted in the first post of this thread twelve days ago? Awesome.

Count Dooku

The expiration date on what can be called "new" is really speeding up if it doesn't even last a month anymore.

Decker

I still think it's a new song. I just think it's weird that Jeff posted THREE TIMES in this thread about how Lorde is a one-hit wonder and irrelevant and washed up at 24 before he even got around to listening to the lead single track in the very first post.

Josh-da-man

I'm so old I still think of Lorde as a "new" artist.

Shit, I think Green Day is still a new artist.

Really, any band or musician that came out after I finished high school feels like they're still a new artist.

JeffTheAlpaca

I never said she was washed up. I own melodrama and the first album on Itunes.

I was saying outside of her hardcore fans she won't be beating Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo and the current people dominating the charts in album sales

Count Dooku

FYI, last night's Seth Meyers was all Lorde: talking, singing, and drinking.

Decker

I'll have to check that out on Peacock, thanks.

I see she performed her new song there as well. I don't like it as much as Solar Power, but it's a strong song as well. Just like SP, has backing vocals from Phoebe Bridgers and Claro.
Here's the studio version:

JeffTheAlpaca

I like this song even less than Solar Power

I hope the new album has songs similar to Ribs and Buzzcut Season but she probably ditched that sound.

Decker

New song and video just dropped. This second music video also seems somewhat inspired by Midsommer.

dex14

Did a once-through on this and my first impression is that it is a bore. But... she was 16 when she started and I get her tastes and musical influences may have changed over 8 years. There is even a line in one of the songs about "the music you loved at sixteen you'll grow out of." I'll give her a mulligan.