“This is like a classy Disney tune” – André and Fred listen to Lorde

“Green Light”

André

Well the album title is fitting

Oh, wait. Is this turning into a house track?

Fred

Good grief

The roof on my house just blew off

André

That certainly took a turn haha

Fred

This is pretty fun

Is it meant to be fun? I’ve never listened to Lorde before

André

I’m not sure. Given her age, I assume so

Fred

This is fabulous

André

The lyrics are a nice contrast to the happy-house tone of the instrumental

Fred

Very strong opener

“Sober”

André

She has a very distinctive voice – it’s easy to see why such a fuss was made a few years ago

Fred

Yeah, husky

Yet oddly smooth. Does it always have this near-conversational tone?

André

Yeah, but she can certainly soar too

Fred

This hasn’t quite taken off like Green Light has

Pleasant though

André

Pleasant is the right word

“Homemade Dynamite”

André

Her wordplay is fantastic. The delivery is stellar

Fred

It’s all so measured

André

I like how subdued the instrumental is

Leaves her plenty of room

Fred

Yeah, and the effect on the vocals is just right

Gives it a glow

André

Did she just make an explosion sound?

I think she did haha

Fred

What a clever little hook the chorus has

André

Yeah, this is good

I’m impressed so far

“The Louvre”

André

Moody pop is just right for a summer evening

Fred

Yeah, it’s a perfect fit

I just like how slow it is. She’s confident enough not to throw a wall of noise at you, and rightly so

She’s singing about over analyzing text messages and it’s great

What’s going on?

André

There’s a level of restraint, agreed

And it really benefits the mood

Also displays an amazing level of maturity for a 20-year old

Fred

Digging this fade out.

“Liability”

André

Seriously, the wordplay is seriously great

What a lovely little ballad

Fred

This is like a classy Disney tune or something

This is so refreshingly weird

André

I know

That was really nice

That one felt a lot more personal, too

Fred

Yeah, very sweet

“Hard Feelings/Loveless”

Fred

This is building up really well

André

Harmonies are wonderful

This is shaping up to be a splendid listen

There’s a real quirky, offbeat quality to some of these synths

I like how it embraces some of the conventional qualities of pop, whilst throwing in some peculiar aspects too as a counterbalance

Fred

Yeah. It’s like a successful version of those deliberately messy farces we’ve listened to

André

You can tell there is influence from the likes of Bon Iver, yeah

It’s way better than his record last year, frankly

Fred

You mean 80n )v3r?

André

That one!

“Sober II”

Fred

Haha, a symphony. Of course

André

There’s that classy Disney vibe again

Fred

Is pop coming full circle to… sincerity?!

André

I wonder how well this will fare, commercially

Critically it’s doing wonders

Ooh, that beat is ace

Bass is sounding smooth as fuck on my hi-fi

Fred

Suave isn’t it

Production has been top notch

“Writer in the Dark”

Fred

Most of the songs have been below 4 minutes, by the way. Nothing overcooked so far

André

There’s that restraint again, yeah

Her voice is the throbbing heart of this record. If she’s not careful, she’ll be one of THE voices of the incoming generation

Only 20 years old and making records like this

No wonder Bowie was excited about her

Fred

The man knew a star when he saw one.

“Supercut”

André

There’s not been anything remotely house since the opener

This could build to one though..

It’s sticking to the subdued

Nice groove though

Fred

Yeah, nice

Oh there we go

André

It got there in the end

Fred

Haha, for like 8 seconds

Her harmonies are so good

André

Tease

The producers did a wonderful job on this record

Her included, it seems

“Liability (Reprise)”

André

The whole thing has that vibe of a come-down from a glamorous party

Written in the early hours of the morning after

Fred

Definitely in bring-it-home mode, yeah

It has that melancholy tone I agree

Reflective

“Perfect Places”

André

Compare this to that Lady Gaga album last year

A 20-year old is taking pop to a new level

Fred

Yeah, this is fantastic

What a lovely closer too

André

Absolutely

I’ll definitely be returning to this

Fred

Same. Plenty

Surely that’s one of the best releases of the year?

André

I think only time will tell

That was a really nice listen

I’ll be coming back to it

I’ve not listened to much pop this year, but I’m willing to bet it’s a lot better than the new Katy Perry album for instance

Not too a dissimilar vibe to The XX in places, and I really enjoyed their album this year too

But yeah, overall, I’m impressed

She has quite the career ahead of her

Fred

Lovely stuff

She certainly does

Goddammit

André

Green Light – what a red herring haha

A lot of the best albums in recent memory have those fantastic opening tracks that set an initial tone, but the rest of the album follows a different direction

Burn the Witch from A Moon Shaped Pool, Soothing from Semper Femina..

I’m not sure Melodrama is as good as those records. But it’s a fine album on first listen

Fred

It’s extremely solid. As you say, time will tell

Extremely good first impression though

Extremely

Extremely

And she’s only 20

André

I think you nailed it with that ‘classy Disney’ shout

The songs have the drama of your Frozen ballads, but the class and craft of something greater

Fred

It’s a good vibe

Dramatic even

Ah, she’s failed spectacularly!