Sunday Swim Presented By The Lake Review, Episode 9: Lorde, “Pure Heroine”

Sunday Swim is a weekly guest column written by The Lake Review for Sound Over Time, covering classic records that you need to hear if you haven’t already. Follow the Lake Review on Instagram @thelakereview.

Pop music is a genre that has gone through many changes over the years. With so many different sub genres, the genre allows artists with different influences to flourish and not just the standard pop star/group. Lorde is an artist I discovered through word of mouth and was intrigued because there’s never been a huge star from New Zealand who got the traction she did.

Pure Heroine was my first exposure to her music and from the first song, you know the album is different from your standard pop album. Paired with producer Joel Little and recorded in a small intimate setting in their home country New Zealand, the final product released is an excellent representation of someone young who has seen so much. With excellent songwriting being built around Joel’s very minimalistic production of loops, Pure Heroine is a pure delight for any pop fan who enjoys something original and different.

An album that centers around themes of youth in suburbia, mainstream culture, fame, materialism, fame and social status and influenced by James Blake, the xx, Kanye West and her relationship at the time, the album is a cohesive work that truly highlighted Lorde as a storm that took pop radio stations by surprise. With a successful tour and a new album releasing in August after the critically acclaimed Melodrama, there doesn’t seem to be anything that can stop Lorde from continuing to show the world her beautiful art we were first exposed to when she was just 16.