It\u2019s summer, and you\u2019re scrolling past story after story with the same EDM buildup to the same quite unremarkable lyrics. You stop to think: could this really be Lorde\u2019s first work in half a decade? But most incredulously \u2013 why does everyone love it?<\/p>\n
The darling mystic of pop has produced a parody of her former work by relying too much on what Lorde had become for people. Known for her contemplations of youth in the limelight, \u2018What Was That\u2019 delivers clich\u00e9 nostalgia with lyrics like \u201cSince I was 17, I gave you everything, Now we wake from a dream\u201d. I felt like I was listening to a lazy attempt at recapturing Melodrama\u2019s charms, and frankly, I was disappointed.<\/p>\n
Lorde\u2019s forceful recollection of drugs and youthful rebellion falls flat alongside an equally flat synth track. \u201cMDMA in the back garden, blow our pupils up\u201d and \u201cThis is the best cigarette of my life\u201d leave very little to the imagination, and in their unremarkable digression from lyrical poetry, are still awarded a consistent place in the chorus.<\/p>\n
Breaking away from the brooding ballads of her younger music, Lorde has decided to marry her new album Virgin to a monorhythm based on synths and unsynchronised lyrics. Her smooth, almost choir-like vocals are lost in the haze of dissonant electric drums, and its first release, \u2018What Was That\u2019, leads an album in which all songs sound exactly the same.<\/p>\n
Almost every line felt like it was trying too hard, like it\u2019s almost a lyric, like in the second verse: \u201cI stare at the painted faces that talk current affairs\u201d. There\u2019s also what seems to be frequent attempts at depth, such as \u201cIndio haze, we\u2019re in a sandstorm,\u201d that don\u2019t sound ethereal, no matter what sci-fi-esque electronic music it\u2019s paired with.<\/p>\n
Lorde\u2019s track record is thoughtful, lively and full of meaning. A loss of musicality in \u2018What Was That\u2019 is partly to blame, since a lack of guitar or piano acoustics would have gone a long way to bring the song to life, as in \u2018Green Light\u2019 and \u2018Royals\u2019.<\/p>\n
Yet what made this song most annoying this year was that it was so overdone: perhaps because established artists can release very average work and their loyal fans will still relish the end of their wait, or because its title encapsulates Gen Z\u2019s enduring exhaustion, and it just matches the need for a post\u2019s caption.<\/p>\n
I was confronted with the high expectations I had held for such a promising artist. Her outspoken journey of understanding her gender fluidity and the significance of her very young rise to fame were expected to be quite present themes in Lorde\u2019s new work, and with precedents like \u2018Stoned at the Nail Salon\u2019, I was intrigued to see what new existentialism her listeners would be subject to in 2025.<\/p>\n
As one of the few mainstream artists making bold political statements, I still respect Lorde and hope for a stronger comeback. Withdrawing her music from music streaming platforms in Israel earlier this month, while shouting \u2018Free Palestine\u2019 during concerts, Lorde has still done a good job at preserving her image as a cultural icon of rebellious pop for young and older fans alike. But still, what was that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s summer, and you\u2019re scrolling past story after story with the same EDM buildup to the same quite unremarkable lyrics. You stop to think: could … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n