Pitchfork: Solar Power

[COOOK 76,406]

   6.8

"Lorde returns with a self-aware, scaled-back album. Its holistic beauty and revelations about the natural world are often lost in the drab music."

Spoiler

"Produced once again with the ubiquitous Jack Antonoff, Solar Power sounds more interesting when it bottles the jasmine air of Laurel Canyon folk, less interesting when it emulates that sound’s descendants in early-2000s soft rock (Sheryl Crow, Jewel) without any of the hooks or energy of radio pop. These songs don’t move like the songs on Melodrama: no startling change-ups, no fireworks, just a spoken interlude by Robyn and a few distracting foley effects." 

"It is the first Lorde album that doesn’t try to tug on your sleeve, or stare directly into your eyes. It feels like doing less."

"More than ever, Lorde’s writing is the best part of her music, if only because the music is a little disappointing. “You felled me clean as a pine,” she sings to her lover on “The Man With the Axe,” and describes the dark concavity of a concert arena that’s shiny as a manicure and transient as the tide: “Fingernail worlds, like favorite seashells/They fill up my nights and then they float away.” The words are elegant, compact, enormous, rich in a kind of organic imagery that distinguishes Solar Power from Lorde’s past work. But while Melodrama purportedly unfolded within the confines of a house party, the concept came so naturally you didn’t have to think about it; it just felt like you were there. Solar Power tries to be bigger and smaller at the same time, spanning scenes of domestic bliss and apocalyptic flight without the conceptual architecture to unite them."

"It’s worth making art that promises a way out, art that can approach climate anxiety with clear eyes and purpose instead of dissonance and dread. But most of Solar Power doesn’t solicit strong emotion in either direction. Shouldn’t an album about climate grief and puppy grief and social grief by one of the best pop songwriters of her generation make you feel something?"

Full review here.

Previous scores:

  8.8

  7.3

[HausOfAntonio 8,021]

I’m ngl I was quite shocked listening to this album… maybe it will grow on me with more listens but for now I’m wildly disappointed. Considering this is the woman that gave us BUZZCUT SEASON AND SOBER AND PERFECT PLACES 

[alsemanche 92,814]

I expected an even lower score from them 

[Cameltoe Chariot 15,057]

Solar Power as an album is…

[Debithius 5,787]

However, the album cover is ****ing iconc.

[BleepBloop 10,316]

[Flawless 2,234]

Really low for her, but I totally understand what they're saying in this review, and I lowkey agree

[holy scheisse 22,114]

Haven't listened to it yet but all these reviews scare me 

[Doily Skull 260]

Hard disagree. OP of the article seems pressed it the album wasn’t Melodrama more than anything. There was absolutely emotion to be found and it was delivered beautifully. 

[LateToCult 40,743]

They were spitting facts for once. 

[COOOK 76,406]

55 minutes ago, alsemanche said:

I expected an even lower score from them 

It's the exact same score they gave Teenage Dream... They also gave Miley's Plastic Hearts a 6.4 so this gives us a good idea of how valuable their criteria is lol 

[alsemanche 92,814]

Okay I read the full review and:

-"Its holistic beauty and revelations about the natural world are often lost in the drab music.": it's not "drab" (although it intentionally is on some songs like Big Star and Stoned at the Nail Salon), it's psychedelic and folk pop, which are inherently stripped back and not as upbeat. Doesn't mean it's drab or dull.

-"These songs don’t move like the songs on Melodrama": and why would they? This is a whole other album that comes FOUR years after Melodrama. I knew everyone was gonna go into Solar Power with Melodrama expectations and I think this is the reason so many people were disappointed. Melodrama is in my top 10 albums of all time, and I highly doubt Lorde would (or even wants to) recreate it. She's done it. It's there. If you want Melodrama, go listen to Melodrama. But don't expect everything she does after it to be Melodrama. I'm glad she didn't try to emulate that album but instead chose to do something different and something she wanted to do. 

-"More than ever, Lorde’s writing is the best part of her music, if only because the music is a little disappointing.": why does Pitchfork always have to give backhanded criticism when they say something nice for once  "her writing is the best part because the music is the worst part" 

-"But while Melodrama purportedly unfolded within the confines of a house party, the concept came so naturally you didn’t have to think about it; it just felt like you were there. Solar Power tries to be bigger and smaller at the same time, spanning scenes of domestic bliss and apocalyptic flight without the conceptual architecture to unite them.": again, stop comparing it to Melodrama and review the album for what it is. Melodrama has a strong concept and storyline. Solar Power is not the conceptual album that Melodrama was, although it does have an overarching concept to it. 

-The Mood Ring criticism makes no sense 

-"Shouldn’t an album about climate grief and puppy grief and social grief by one of the best pop songwriters of her generation make you feel something?": Y'all felt nothing??? Really??? Emotions are not limited to grief or dread or joy. There's a huge array of emotions that one can feel, and the albums does a very good job at that. I'm not sure how whoever is writing this review didn't feel ANYTHING at Fallen Fruit, or Oceanic Feeling, or more importantly BIG STAR??? I was literally crying by the end of that song. 

-"“Fallen Fruit” and its sister “Leader of a New Regime” are weird songs" that's one of the worst lines I've read in an album review ever bye

Yeah overall a typical Pitchfork review. I agree with some things they say, but mostly it's a mess. And the constant comparisons to Melodrama and other artists is very unfair and does not mean anything. She's an artist making her own art, not someone imitating others. 

 

[Bling 31,288]

This is ha Joanne era, chill 

[alsemanche 92,814]

4 minutes ago, COOOK said:

It's the exact same score they gave Teenage Dream... They also gave Miley's Plastic Hearts a 6.4 so this gives us a good idea of their criteria lol 

Pitchfork has always been a mess tbh. They gave Bjork's Vespertine aka one of the best albums ever made (imo the best album ever made) a freaking 7.2. Even more recently they gave Happier Than Ever a 7.6, and Florence's High As Hope a 5.7  Idk what their criteria is but they need Jesus (or a prettier Jesus for that matter )

[COOOK 76,406]

1 minute ago, alsemanche said:

Pitchfork has always been a mess tbh. They gave Bjork's Vespertine aka one of the best albums ever made (imo the best album ever made) a freaking 7.2. Even more recently they gave Happier Than Ever a 7.6, and Florence's High As Hope a 5.7  Idk what their criteria is but they need Jesus (or a prettier Jesus for that matter )

To be honest I don't know how fair it is that an entire music publication relies on the taste of just one OP to review an album? Aside from being pretty salty that Solar Power doesn't follow Melodrama, they just can't let go of that album. Like.... review this one, sis