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| Ella Yelich-O'Connor (aka Lorde( |
I have such a soft spot for Lorde. She's done more with her life than I have and I'm so jealous but proud of her at the same time. Also, I enjoy how poetic her lyrics are, even they're not very deep. She's 17 though, so I 'll cut her some slack.
If you want to read more about her background, reference my review on one of her other songs. You might notice that my prediction back then came true because Lorde has become so much more established in the music industry. She's added tremendously to the amount of awards she's won in the past couple of months, plus she's the curator of music for a movie now!
The movie is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 and "Yellow Flicker Beat" is the first single from the soundtrack to be released. Not bad for a seventeen-year-old from New Zealand! See, friends? Dreams do come true. Anyway, I was curious about her personal life so I did a little bit of additional research (stalking) and stumbled upon her very proud boyfriend's blog! I also follow her weird self on tumblr so check out her blog too.
ANYWAY. If I was Lorde, I would keep James, her boyfriend, on a tight leash because although he's not very distinctive looking, he seems like such a sweet sensitive guy. James is a photographer so all the photos on his blog are amazing! Plus, his posts about Ella (Lorde) are brimming with pride for his lady. And rightly so! Although, I think Ella's fame is hitting him a bit hard because he mentions in a blog post that her fame is causing him to be a "target to the tabloids." It seems like he'll stand by her even through all of that.
In "Yellow Flicker Beat," Lorde makes a mention about the public side of being famous. "I'm a princess, cut from marble, smoother than a storm," she croons in the first verse. This signifies her (and Katniss's) neutral, somewhat cold public persona, even though her private personality is a storm of complexity and emotion. This song has so much imagery, it would take me a long time to go through all of them since they all relate to The Hunger Games books. This song is literally such a full account of what Katniss would be feeling by Mockingjay.
Melodically, it's typical Lorde, with her synth beats and rampant vocalizations. Her cited inspirations--from artists like Grimes to Kanye West--really show how broad of a scope she musically encompasses. Her lyrics and singing are downright indie, with the somehow earthy simplicity of the buzzing repeating computer keyboard pattern. That whole chorus synth part sounds like downplayed and remastered Beastie Boys! Although, if I allow myself some criticism, she still hasn't perfected a clean sound yet. There's a lot of sound lost that just goes into the ether (I'm talking about the amount of reverb on this track). She still has a ways to go so I think that instinct to clean up her track will come with time.
But somehow, Lorde always makes it all work. Honestly, I'm excited what kind of music she's picked for this soundtrack! So far, I'm loving the first single.
Rating: 4 RECORDS
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Photo: usmagazine.com
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