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everythingmusicandfilm · 6 years ago

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Melodrama / One Year Anniversary

On the 16th of June 2017, the Lorde herself blessed us with the pure art that is Melodrama. I clearly remember being at a stressed time of my life, having just finished exams and this album was definitely an incredible reward. The album takes us on a fluorescent journey of being a 20 year old female on the edge of the universe. We follow Ella’s relationship, her heartbreak, her endless partying, the love hate relationship with loneliness and the struggles of being a writer. Melodrama is an album about being alone and nurturing the relationship with yourself, something that resonates with myself very deeply. This album may be have been snubbed by the grammys but there is no doubt that it is my album of the year.

“Green Light”

The first song on the album starts with a piano and honest vocals bringing us in. The song gives us an inside look into Ella’s heartbreak. The punchy euphoric pre chorus comes in and Ella’s powerful vocals yell out “I’m waiting for it, that green light, I want it”, as we are lead into the masterpiece. This song was the first single released from the album and it delivered a clear message that this album will be worth the four year wait. The song represents a drunk girl who is crying about her ex boyfriend as the music is joyous and makes you want to dance all night long but the lyrics are so intense (“Did it frighten you, how we kissed when we danced on the light up floor?”). But Ella also knows she will be strong and rebuild the next day (“Oh, I wish I could get my things and just let go, i’m waiting for it, that green light, I want it). “Green Light” is an electro acoustic masterpiece with joyous instrumentals and powerful lyrics (“Sometimes I wake up in a different bedroom, I whisper things, the city sings ‘em back to you”).

“Sober”

“Sober” is a perfect example of experiencing Ella’s synesthesia. The first note hits you hard as a strange vocal syncopation comes through. Ella’s clear voice then starts singing “Oh god i’m clean out of air”. The song expresses Ella’s fears of coming down from her high and going back to reality (“we pretend that we just don’t care but we care”). The sprawling brass horns and hypnotic vocals creates a chaotic song that portrays the feeling of being drunk. We start to hear the colours in the song and don’t want it to end as the booming slow synth takes us on a journey of being ‘drunk’ and fearing for the feeling to end (“Jack and Jill got fucked up and possessive when they get dark”). This song shows a side of pop music we haven’t heard before.

“Homemade Dynamite”

“Homemade Dynamite” reflects a chaotic, explosive house party. The ‘homemade dynamite’ referring to alcohol/drugs, things youth use to destroy themselves and forget about things. The song vocalises an explosion and even includes a top gun reference as it explores the power of friendship and having a reckless night together (“A couple rebel top gun pilots, flying with nowhere to be”). The song which potentially has the lightest lyrics on the whole album, simply illustrates friends being drunk and enjoying a song together. My favourite part of the song is the lyrics, “Might get your friend to drive, but he can hardly see. We’ll end up painted on the road, red and chrome, all the broken glass sparkling”. The almost gothic lyrics reflect the events of a mythical car crash Ella and her friends feel has happened although it could have actually happened if they had let that person drive. These lyrics add a humorous and reckless touch to the song. An important reflection of what it feels to be young and unaware of what to do with your new freedom.

“The Louvre”

“The Louvre” illustrates the passionate and the vulnerable sides of being in love. The dry guitar opening and the ambient atmosphere of the song pulls us into a sort of trance as we explore Ella’s experience of love (“Well, summer slipped us underneath her tongue, our days and nights are perfumed with obsession”). Ella’s voice in this song perfectly matches the lyrics she is singing (“I overthink your p-punctuation use, not my fault, just a thing that my mind do”). When Ella sings “Just move in close to me, closer, you’ll feel it coasting”, she places an emphasis on each C word. These little details in her singing greatly enhance the song. The song is about thinking you’re perfect for each other (“But we’re the greatest, they’ll hang us in the Louvre, down the back, but who cares, still the Louvre) but also about the vulnerability of telling someone how you feel about them (“Megaphone to my chest, broadcast the boom boom boom boom and make 'em all dance to it”). The chorus sounds like when we’re around someone we like, we’re nervous and excited and our heart beats fast and it feels as if everyone can hear it.

“Liability”

A moment of quiet is portrayed as we reach the “Liability” track, potentially my favourite song on the album. The sad slow cinematic piano accompanies the honest and raw lyrics. When a song strips down the number of instruments, the lyrics have a more powerful effect (“The truth is I am a toy that people enjoy, 'til all of the tricks don’t work anymore and then they are bored of me”). Ella in this song recognises her destructive personality and takes the blame for the breakup (“Says he made the big mistake of dancing in my storm”). The piano descends as the lyrics soar. Ella explores the loneliness of being a pop drama queen as she questions if she is too complicated to find love. These very personal and intense lyrics make us feel bad for the singer and want to comfort her in that taxi. Ella realises what she does for a living and that giving up her privacy means she will always be a tax on someone. However there is hope in the song that her relationship with herself (“the only love I haven’t screwed up”) won’t let her down. A reminder that you’re not too much for people, you’re magical and you are always going to have yourself so you have to nurture that relationship. The song is Ella’s suit of armour as she confronts the painful reality of what her job means for her relationships and the hopeful empowerment of being okay alone (“you’re all gonna watch me disappear into the sun”).

“Hard Feelings/Loveless”

This track is two songs put together and they are two songs that explore different stages of a breakup. The distorted beats, the electronic sounds, the layered vocals all come together to create “Hard Feelings”. This song is about admitting the breakup (“I care for myself the way I used to care about you”). The first verse expresses blue tones and is the ‘winter’ part of a breakup where as the second verse is an “endless summer afternoon”. Throughout the song Ella is slowly letting go of the fantasy of the relationship and softly sings as she asks her ex to be gentle. Then the drums and beat of “Loveless” comes in. Ella vents her angry feelings as she becomes bitter about the breakup. Ella wants her ex to feel as much pain as she does (“Bet you wanna rip my heart out, bet you wanna skip my calls now, well guess what? I like that”). Ella then explores a loveless generation as the world seems darker to her now since the breakup, it is a loveless world for her now. “Hard feelings” represents how Ella was coping with the heartbreak and “Loveless” is a chance for her to vent out her angry emotions one last time as she lets the pain take over.

“Sober II (Melodrama)”

“Sober II” is the part two to “Sober”. After the party is over and the lights are back on (“Lights are on and they’ve gone home but who am I?”). The strings at the beginning of this song creates an illusion of dreaming, before Ella’s voice punctures through and we are then back to reality. This first note is almost like opening a wound. The song is a sobering experience as it creates blue and violet tones and explores the depressing event of cleaning up alone in the morning after a party. The song addresses the ‘melodrama’ of trying to remember but simultaneously trying to forget (“and the terror and the horror and we wonder why we bother..all the glamour and the trauma and the fucking melodrama”). The song is a clear representation of melodrama.

“Writer In The Dark”

After “Loveless” and “Sober II” explore the pain of being angry and attempting to sober up after a breakup, “Writer in the dark” reaffirms her strength. Her powerful vocal range is shown as Ella explains that being a writer gives her a secret power to overcome things. She can tell the story of her damaged romance in her own terms. The song represents Ella and the album. How she has the talent to tell us what she is feeling, she can determine how her life is recounted, she shows that the writer gets the final word. Being a writer means she can immortalise aspects of her life. This song is a message to her partner as it says that he became a part of this process when they met whether he liked it or not (“Bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark”). Ella doesn’t apologise for this as she has always been a writer, it is who she is and this song is a love letter to this part of her life.

“Supercut”

“Supercut” is an empowering beat that makes you want to dance all night long. It is a message to look back at the memories of a relationship to help you recover from the heartbreak. The pre verse beats and bass are very different to anything else we’ve heard. Ella is coming to terms that the relationship wasn’t a good idea as she realises that the ‘supercut’ version of their relationship is not the whole story (“and as I reach for you, there’s just a supercut”). He is no longer there in her life. Each time Ella explores a happy memory she reminds herself “it’s just a supercut”. As the song slowly fades out it gives us time to look back and reflect. This song is a sonic representation of neon and fluorescent colours. “Supercut” reflects how Ella is maturing as she explores her happy memories of the relationship but recognises that that is only half the story and in the end the relationship was no good.

“Liability (Reprise)”

As the slow hum comes in, and the husky tones are layered, you know you’re about to go on a journey. We can visualise the lyrics in this song as it is an ocean of emotions. We experience nostalgia, comfort and pain. The simple lyrics from the original “Liability” are repeated almost as if we are slowly turning over our memories from the night before, after a party. It is a representation of a hangover. The song is about being alone and reflecting as the world continues to move around you. This song clearly visualises Ella sitting on her own as life continues to move in front of her. Ella questions if all relationships feel like this or if she can find something better (“maybe all this is the party, maybe we just do it violently”). “Liability Reprise” is the morning after a party where Ella is trying to come to terms with being alone again.

“Perfect Places”

“Perfect Places” is a joyful upbeat vibe that explores the madness of becoming an adult. The lyrics juxtapose the music, as being with a different person every night can be fun but also sad. The lyrics illustrate coming of age, and all the political changes happening in this chaotic world as Ella tries to escape the madness. She suggests though that it’s okay because we’re in it together. “Perfect Places” is about trying to find yourself amidst the excitement and uncertainty of your late teenage years (“I’m nineteen and I’m on fire”). She was told when she was younger that becoming an adult is ‘perfect and wonderful’ however as she grows older she doesn’t understand what these perfect places are. The song was written in New York in the summer as Ella explains that the weather was terribly sticky and hot and every day something horrible would be on the news (“I hate the headlines and the weather”). She also talks about losing her heroes including Prince and Bowie (“all of our heroes fading”) as she continues to party so that she won’t be sitting at home with her thoughts. Ella illustrates how she continued to party every night in order to try and find these perfect places but has yet to find them. “Perfect Places” finishes off our journey of Melodrama as Ella questions whether she can find true happiness. The juxtaposition between the joyful beat and the depressing lyrics suggests that Ella is still on the fence about whether these perfect places actually exist.

Melodrama is a portrayal of a house party, the unfolding drama. It is a sensual journey about being a young woman in a chaotic world. It is a journey of a relationship and breakup and the reward comes with the embrace of the self. As Ella has often stated, this is not a breakup album, it’s an album about being alone. The unique vocals and illustrative music allows us to experience her synesthesia. Melodrama is an extraordinary album that expresses the pain and vulnerability of being a young woman on our own in this melodramatic world.

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