Melodrama (Lorde album)

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Melodrama
Lorde - Melodrama.png
Studio album by Lorde
Released 16 June 2017[1][2]
Recorded July 2015 January 2017
Studio
Jack Antonoff's home studio
Electric Lady Studios
Jungle City Studios
(New York City)
Genre
Pop electropop
Length 40:58
Label
Lava Republic[3]
Producer
Lorde (also exec.) Jack Antonoff (also exec.) Jean-Benot Dunckel Flume Frank Dukes
Kuk Harrell Joel Little Malay S1 Andrew Wyatt
Lorde chronology
Pure Heroine
(2013) Melodrama
(2017)
Singles from Melodrama
"Green Light"
Released: 2 March 2017
"Perfect Places"
Released: 1 June 2017
"Homemade Dynamite"
Released: 15 September 2017
Melodrama is the second studio album by New Zealand singer Lorde, released on 16
June 2017 through Republic Records.[3] Writing for the album began as early as
December 2013 and continued through "false starts, fruitless detours and stretches
of inactivity" as Lorde stepped back from the public spotlight, taking shape after
her breakup from her longtime boyfriend James Lowe in 2015.[4]

Melodrama has been described by critics as a loose concept album that explores the
theme of solitude, in the framework of a single house party with the events and
moods that entail it.[5][4][6] Lorde wrote and produced the album alongside Jack
Antonoff, with additional production contributions from Frank Dukes, Malay, Andrew
Wyatt, Joel Little and Flume, among others. The album topped charts in New Zealand,
Australia, the United States and Canada.[7] Melodrama received widespread acclaim
from critics, with some publications citing it as the "best album of the year".[8]

Contents [hide]
1 Background and recording
2 Composition
3 Singles
3.1 Promotional singles
4 Release and promotion
5 Critical reception
6 Commercial performance
7 Track listing
8 Personnel
9 Charts
10 Certifications and sales
11 See also
12 References
Background and recording[edit]

Jack Antonoff (pictured) co-wrote and co-produced a majority of Melodrama with

Lorde.
In December 2013, Lorde announced that she had begun writing material for her
second studio album.[9] In June 2014, Lorde said that her second studio album was
in its early stages and that, so far, it was "totally different" from her debut
album.[10] In November 2016, Lorde posted a Facebook update that read: "Writing
Pure Heroine was my way of enshrining our teenage glory, putting it up in lights
forever so that part of me never dies, and this record well, this one is about
what comes next. ...The party is about to start. I am about to show you the new
world."[11] Lorde revealed the title of the album on 2 March 2017.[12] The album
was recorded over an 18-month period with co-writer and co-producer Jack Antonoff.
[13]

The album is about a "grapple with loneliness" in the aftermath of a break-up,

according to The New York Times.[4] In the article, Lorde mentions that "Melodrama
wasnt a 'breakup album" and stated that "its a record about being alone. The good
parts and the bad parts, dealing with themes of heartbreak and solitude".[4] She
did, however, call "Green Light" a traditional break-up song: "with all of my
favorite artists, Id much rather hear a story about the breakdown of a marriage
than do the Googling about it. I love when artists are more mysterious".[14]

In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Lorde discussed content of the album, as
well as the title Melodrama, an allusion to Greek tragedy and performance art.[14]
She stated that the title is a "nod to the types of emotions you experience when
youre 19 or 20. I had such an intense two years, and everything I was
feelingwhether it was crying or laughing or dancing or in loveeach of them felt
like the most concentrated version of that emotion. I also have a love of theater
and I love drawing a parallel with Greek tragedies. But theres definitely an
element of tongue-in-cheek; its very funny to title your record Melodrama".[14]
Furthermore, she drew comparisons between this album and Pure Heroine, particularly
in terms of the stylistic departures between the two: "it's a little more stylized
than the first one. Its really a collection of moments, thoughts, and vignettes
when I said to myself, Dont forget this. And it wasnt until I went through
heartbreak, and moved out of [my parents] home into my own house and spent a lot
of time totally alone, that I realized I do have very serious, vivid feelings I
needed to get out. Working with [co-writer/co-producer] Jack Antonoff opened me up
to feeling a lot; he was the perfect person to help me do that".

Composition[edit]
"It's a break-up album, interspersed with a young woman's subsequent pitfalls with
parties, emotion-less hook-ups and fame. Her most startling moment is the piano
ballad Liability, where Lorde opens up about her intensity driving love away."
Josh Leeson, The Herald[15]
Lorde composed the songs on Melodrama in New Zealand. She described the album as
addressing themes of heartbreak, solitude and loneliness.[16][17] A majority of the
album was written at the piano and took inspiration from Paul Simon's 1986 album,
Graceland, Don Henley, Tom Petty, Phil Collins and Joni Mitchell.[18] Lorde has
stated Melodrama has a loose narrative.[19] According to a New York Times article,
the singer has a "neurological condition known as sound-to-color synesthesia", and
devised color codes to each song.[4] It is also noted Lorde wanted to explore a
"cathartic mode" for the album. Lorde worked on the album in Jack Antonoff's home
studio in New York City.[17]

Though it has been denied by Lorde,[19] Melodrama has been described by critics as
a loose concept album.[5][6] It explores the theme of solitude, in the framework of
a single house party with the events and moods that entail it.[4] Pitchfork has
called the album a "pop record full of grief and hedonism".[20] Emily Reily of
Paste described it as an "electropop triumph".[21]

Melodrama opens with "Green Light" which is an electropop, dance-pop, and post-
disco song.[22][23][24] The song features titular metaphor's with reviewers
interpreting the "green light" as a street signal that gives the singer permission
to move on into the future.[25][26][27] "The Louvre" has been described by
Entertainment Weekly as a song about the early stages of a casual relationship
"doomed to fail". The song starts with Lorde's voice accompanied by a guitar,
before becoming "a storm of glitchy electro-pop".[28] "Liability" is described as a
pop piano ballad, [29] with Graeme Tuckett, writing for Stuff New Zealand, stating
that "Liability is a break-up confessional, a diary entry of a song. It reads raw,
stripped back, nicely under-produced just a ballad-ish piano to accompany Lorde's
voice this time and particularly well sung."[30] "Hard Feelings/Loveless" has
been described as a two-part, self-aware breakup song that takes the "crazy ex-
girlfriend" clich to "Fatal Attraction-esque extremes".[28][31] Slant Magazine's
Sal Cinquemani described "Hard Feelings" as an "industrial-infused" song, and
"Loveless" as "the most shamelessly poppy track that Lorde has recorded to date,
peppered with prickly bon mots".[31]

Singles[edit]
Lorde announced the album's title via Twitter while simultaneously releasing the
lead single, "Green Light", and its accompanying music video, on 2 March 2017.[32]
The song peaked at number one in New Zealand,[33] number 19 on the Billboard Hot
100,[34] and number 20 in the UK.[35]

"Perfect Places" was released as the second single on 1 June 2017, while its
accompanying music video came up on 3 August 2017. It impacted American modern rock
radio on 6 June 2017, as the second official single.[36]

"Homemade Dynamite" was confirmed as the third single from the album, after Lorde
performed the song on the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on 27 August 2017.[37]

Promotional singles[edit]
"Liability" was released as the first promotional single from the album on 10 March
2017. "Sober" was released as the second promotional single on 9 June 2017.

Release and promotion[edit]

See also: Melodrama World Tour
On 11 March, Lorde performed "Green Light" and "Liability" on Saturday Night Live
to positive reviews.[1][2] Lorde debuted two new songs, "Sober" and "Sober II
(Melodrama)", at a "tiny pre-Coachella gig" at Pappy & Harriet's on 15 April. She
also debuted "Homemade Dynamite" during her set at Coachella the next day.[38]
Lorde also performed "Green Light" at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards on 21 May.

On 30 July, Lorde made an appearance at the Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata, Japan.
[39]

The Japanese edition of the album features an additional bonus track, "Green Light
(Chromeo Remix)".[40]

Critical reception[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
AnyDecentMusic? 8.7/10[41]
Metacritic 91/100[42]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4/5 stars[43]
The A.V. Club A[44]
The Daily Telegraph 5/5 stars[45]
Entertainment Weekly A[28]
The Guardian 4/5 stars[46]
The Independent 4/5 stars[47]
NME 5/5 stars[48]
Pitchfork 8.8/10[20]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[49]
Vice B+[50]
At review aggregate site Metacritic, Melodrama has an average score of 91 out of
100, based on 33 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[42] Sal Cinquemani of
Slant Magazine gave the album a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 saying "[Melodrama]
simmers and builds from track to track, loaded with unlikely hooks", and "it's
cathartic, dramatic, and everything else you could want an album titled Melodrama
to be".[31] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone rated the album 4 out of 5 stars, stating,
"Lorde's writing and fantastically intimate vocals, ranging from her witchy,
unprocessed low-register warbles to all sorts of digitized masks, make it
matter."[49]

Nolan Feeney of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a rating of 'A', writing that
"Lorde makes partying sound holy" and that "the shape-shifting compositions give
Melodrama a richer, more dynamic palette than the muted, minimalist beats of Pure
Heroine". Feeney also notes, "The tracks are in constant dialogue with themselves:
Motifs of riding in cars and the "ribbons" that bind her to a lover repeat
throughout the album, adding layers to the story."[28] Pitchfork writer Stacey
Anderson writes, "Lorde captures emotions like none other. Her second album is a
masterful study of being a young woman, a sleek and humid pop record full of grief
and hedonism, crafted with the utmost care and wisdom."[20] Slant Magazine wrote
"whether it's a party record disguised as a breakup album or a breakup album
disguised as a party record, it's cathartic, dramatic, and everything else you
could want an album titled Melodrama to be".[51] Writing for Drowned in Sound, Joe
Goggins stated: "[Lorde] is intensely self-aware and, accordingly, is able to take
all the inelegancies of youththe stumbles out of nightclub doors, the clothes
strewn across the bedroom floor, how apocalyptic that first heartbreak feels-and
turn them into something exquisite".[52] Kitty Empire of the Guardian suggests the
album is a balance pull of between commercial pop element and Lorde's artistry,
writing that the album is a "yielding glossy ear-crack that will burn its way
through Spotify playlists, while retaining Ella Yelich-OConnors signatures".
Empire also commented that Ella has grown from her minimalist aesthetic in her
debut album, and the themes of fame, heartbreak, partying and self-analysis were
well handled in Melodrama.[53]

Commercial performance[edit]
Melodrama debuted at number one in New Zealand,[54] Australia,[55] Canada,[56] and
the United States, where it debuted with 109,000 album-equivalent units of which
82,000 were pure album sales.[57] In Australia it debuted at number one with first-
week sales of 12,001.[58] The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number five,
selling 17,026 copies in its first week.[59] In the US, the album dropped to number
13 the following week.[60]

Track listing[edit]