“The Path” by Lorde, Saturday, January 28, 2023

 

My blog hasn't been properly introduced to Lorde. Ella Yelich-O'Connor became a superstar at the age of sixteen when her hit "Royals" became a global success.  Her sophomore record Melodrama, recorded with Jack Antonoff, explored the artist's growing up in the midst of partying and becoming an adult. And in 2021, Lorde and Antonoff produced another record, Solar Power. Unlike her previous works, Solar Power wasn't as well received.

CAUGHT IN THE COMPLEX DIVORCE OF THE SEASONS. One of the reasons I think that Solar Power wasn't well received was for its unconventional, often experimental song structures. Both the first and second tracks on Solar Power, today's song "The Path" and the eponymous track follow a pattern of getting to the chorus at the end of the song. It's the diametric opposition to the "don't bore us, get to the chorus" typical in radio pop music. However, there is another reason why Solar Power failed to resonate with listeners. Besides taking on the timbre of a folk record, Solar Power sets a simultaneous vibe of trying to be social but feeling lonely inside. Also, there seems to be a clear "divorce" between how New Zealand and the United States handled the pandemic. New Zealand fared much better than the United States as far as infections and deaths.  The music videos of for both "The Path" and "Solar Power" depict Lorde with a group of people near the beach. In other tracks like "Leader of a New Regime" and "Mood Ring" feel like Lorde is part of a commune or a cult. In today's song, the speaker seeks answers for life's questions with "I hope the sun will show us the path."

I HOPE THE SUN WILL SHOW US THE PATH. "The Path" reminds us that a celebrity cannot molly her fans. Lorde doesn't claim to have the answers or a formula that her fans should follow. We're offered glimpses into incidents in her past; in today's song it's images from the Met Gala. It's almost as if these images from her past are distant memories as the speaker seeks reprogramming in the natural world where the "sun show[s] us the path." But with so many voices competing for pop stardom during the pandemic, Lorde's underwhelming utopian visions fell between the cracks. But while Solar Power may not have resonated with 2021 audiences, that's not to say that the record won't be relevant later. Many of us are looking for direction and looking new solutions. Maybe we're not looking to find a nature commune or looking for nature to show us the path, but maybe looking for different solutions. As the year is starting out, we're looking for a new path. What's your solar power?

Read “The Path” by Lorde on Genius.