Has Lorde Delivered The Goods With New Album 'Melodrama'? We Take You Track By Track

Green Light

Upbeat and very danceable, this is Lorde with the grit that got our attention the first time around, but with a new edge. Get ready to sing along to "That green light, I want it!" - a great metaphor as well as catchy as hook.

Sober

A perfect reminder of what young, silly, affected 'love' really is like. There's a restraint in the production as she whispers "But what will we do when we're sober?", offset by a big brassy response. That confusion, excitement and bold denial - yeah, you nailed it darl. We've all been there... or are about to be.

Homemade Dynamite

Held together with an interesting metaphor - "Blowing shit up with homemade dynamite" - complete with a little fake explosion, this song is cute as but with an edge. Heavy beats and quick lyrics carry this track; a different type of pop showing Lorde's intensity.

The Louvre

Keeping up the destructive line, this song goes into complete sabotage. It's defiant and playful and sexy. As Lorde almost snarls the chorus "Broadcast the boom boom boom and make 'em all dance to it" you can imagine the twists, turns and magnificent hair thrusts of seeing her perform this live. Hang in for the weird 80s-styled synth at the end, just because.

Liability

A sweet love song for dancing in the dark with your darling, albeit with an element of danger and judgement. It's simple, direct, ambiguous - and bloody lovely. There's not much more to say except listen, project and pine for the one that got away.

Hard Feelings/Loveless

This track features a great use of multi-tracked vocals and space in the recording builds on Lorde's previous style, brimming with confused emotion. About midway, it develops into a strange percussive bridge, an interesting trip of its own.

Sober II (Melodrama)

There's something so glamorous about this track, least of all the line "Oh how fast the evening passes, cleaning up the champagne glasses". Don't be fooled though, this track also provides the chance to get proper Lorde angry too - sing it, sister!

Writer In The Dark

Oh, this track! Expect lots of Tori Amos meets Kate Bush comparisons, it's bloody lovely, if not slightly creepy - but let's face it, the best obsessed love songs are. "I'll love you 'til you call the cops on me" is a line that many contemporary young writer things should lust over for its directness and imagery.

Supercut

Opening with tight vocals and a building beat, this upbeat track still keeps with the album's love lost theme but with more toe-tapping potential. Less 'stay-in-my-room-feeling-sad' and much more 'get-out-and-dance-about-it'. 

Liability (Reprise)

A return to the sweet love song from before, this reworking is less intimate. The enhanced production makes this moment much more of a public performance and more abstract than earlier, perhaps a circuit breaker for those who couldn't handle the feels from before. Interesting, though.

Perfect Places

Oh, the 80s sounds... Oh, wow, the 80s sounds! This track isn't a complete cheese fest, but there's enough there to be tasty as. Great big vocals and synths to support, this is a great hairbrush-in-the-mirror finale.

Verdict: