“I really have been filling rooms with people to try and understand. A lot of Pure Heroine was just me standing in the corners of parties trying to make sense of things. Melodrama was literally an album written about that experience, but maybe I was a little deeper into the party, on the dance floor perhaps, and Solar Power is kind of having a house full of people, but the doors are open now and you’re outside, and it’s a different sort of energy.” – Lorde, episode 240 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Lorde joins us in the studio this week following the release of her third album, Solar Power!
We begin with a prologue to her new record (6:07), the story of her first performance in America at age sixteen (9:33), why leaving social media (11:38) inspired “Stoned at the Nail Salon” (16:22), and how she’s found joy in growing older (21:35), despite sentiments on Pure Heroine’s “Ribs” (23:00). Ella also grapples with the juxtaposition of being both an artist and an introvert (26:21), the life cycle of making music (29:20), and the early literary influences that shape her songwriting today (35:14).
Before we go, she reflects on a memory of the late David Bowie (36:40), the familial imagery behind “Oceanic Feeling” (38:32), and her hopes for herself in the years to come (40:58).
Show notes
- Buy and stream Lorde’s new album, Solar Power.
- Listen to the songs in the episode: Fallen Fruit, Ribs, Stoned at the Nail Salon, & Oceanic Feeling.
- Watch the Royals music video.
- Visit her official website for more.
- Read Lorde’s essay for Stuff, penned in 2013.
- Read her Rookie interview with Tavi Gevinson in 2014.
- Watch Patti Smith’s Advice to the Young.
- Get your copy of Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing.
- Watch her performance of “Life on Mars,” in tribute to Bowie at the 2016 BRIT Awards.
- Hear our previous talks with guests like George Saunders, Miranda July, Jenny Slate, Janelle Monáe, Ocean Vuong, Brittany Howard, & Gloria Steinem. Full catalogue here.
Special thanks to Wayback archive and the Lorde Archive.
Original illustration by: Krishna Shenoi