Lorde - Solar Power (August 20, 2021) Album • Page 22

omg they also uploaded a version where it was about to storm and the wind was picking up lol

 

Good morning to you.
I managed to escape the city. Work the last couple weeks has been a blur of interviews, photo shoots, trips to 30 Rock, the whole bit. I keep having this funny sensation of being INSIDE the internet— I feel the actual aspect ratio of the Youtube video I’m making, like a doll in a diorama. Feeling more settled though, and doing lots of funny fun shit every day. Right now, I’m here and I can hear cicadas.





I’m really enjoying the deep weirdness and analogue nature of this outlet. I suppose one can think of it like snail mail social media, and if I were on regular social media I’d probably be reposting the link to something I’d been in, with a cute and not yet overused emoji or two, so — this is that bit.

I was delighted and nervous to be a guest of VOGUE’s 73 Questions series. I think this actually turned out nice, and it’s a thoughtful interview. It’ll never be this but what can ya do……

I also went to visit the Hot Ones crew! What a lovely man and a thoughtful, well-researched interviewer.

We performed on Seth Meyers, which you’ve probably seen, but here are a couple pics that Ashlan took at rehearsals and on the day.








Sleepy person rehearsing at Electric Lady





Backstage at Seth


There’s a couple more merch pieces available for you to peruse. Available for a little while here.




We also did a little rooftop session 2 weeks ago at Electric Lady. We had plans to do a handful of songs but the fine warm day became a large storm, and we got through one take of Solar Power and had to tap out for fear of electrocution. Picked it back up the next day. I love both.

Alright, that’s probably enough for now. I’m enjoying the paintings of Maria Clara Eimmart this week also this William Blake is speaking to me, and I read this interesting story about GMOs in the New York Magazine which I’ve thought about a lot, particularly this little image: “In his talk, Baker noted that there are hundreds of kinds of berries in the world. But among those we commonly call berries, we eat just four: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. There’s a reason the other varieties rarely reach us. Sometimes the fruit rots within days after picking (salmonberries), or the plant puts out fruit for only a few weeks in summer (cloudberries). Sometimes the plant doesn’t produce much fruit at all or is too thorny or sprawling for the fruit to be picked without a vast amount of labor. As Joel Reiner, a horticulturalist at Pairwise, would later put it, “Berries always have some tragic flaw.”

She had a busy week. More soon.
Wishing you continued enjoyment of the summer months, and health and well-being for all your family members.



Take it easy, but take it—
Ella

 

no kidding lol

 

omg so shocked

 

New song "Mood Ring" out Monday

 

Lorde and Kississippi collab confirmed

 

I gotta watch the Diary of a Song asap, I love those

 

Mood Ring song and video out tomorrow

 

It’s alright, maybe even kinda bad. Probably my least favorite of the 3.

getting a little worried for the album tbh. I like 2/3 of the singles so maybe a little bit of an overreaction, but it’s trending in a direction that is less dynamic than I thought we’d get. If “Mood Ring” was on the table as a single (and chosen) I don’t think that bodes well. It’s a pretty bland song, that is a weaker version of what we’ve already gotten.

 

gonna hold out for the whole album at this point

 

Tapestry by Jean Lurçat
Hello my sweets. I can’t quite believe it — the 20th is almost upon us. Three days from now, Solar Power will be yours. I’m not gonna get mushy, I’ll be saving that for the inevitable MUSHY ALBUM DAY BULLETIN, but I will say that at the moment I’m feeling the classic pre-album cocktail of fragile and psyched and shy at all times. This album took thousands of hours and a zillion units of personal growth to make and it’s starting to hit me.

Moving on...

It is my cosmic pleasure to share MOOD RING with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I realised I had to write this song late last year — I kept waking up in the night and writing lines of lyric into my phone, which is how I usually know something’s gonna become a song.
It was really interesting distilling some thoughts on wellness culture and the search for spiritual meaning in our modern world into a 3-minute pop song. The kind of challenge she likes best! Part of why this album was so FUN to make was that I got to explore these tropes of people seeking wellness, enlightenment or even utopia. The person who welcomes you to the island in Solar Power video is one, the dude in Dominoes is another, and now we can add this little lady to the mix. I didn’t name her, but you should go hard. I’ll say it once and then never again: this is satire. She is not me.

It goes without saying I feel tons of empathy for this character. It was never my intention to fully flame her, although I don’t let her off the hook. We’re living through wild times, and it’s tough to begrudge anyone the methods they employ to feel sane, questionable though they may be. Something like a mood ring represented a sort of magical thinking, the same kind I dip into when I get my aura photographed, or try and bend my horoscope to my will — when I just need to believe something in a moment to feel good or clear. And deep down, I DO feel cozy and connected when someone asks me to ======set an intention for my practise===== at that start of a Pilates class, you know? Maybe you recognise elements of this character in yourself — I certainly sprinkled some things in that came straight from my life. Literally sprinkled… see chia seeds. Anyway I hope you love this song and video— I’m really proud of them both.
PS This video was soooo relaxing to shoot, I can’t even tell you… I felt like I had had a spa day by the end. Eerie soothing case in point!!!


I’m deeply indebted to many sources of inspo here — this great piece by Jia on optimisation, this also great piece by my friend Tess on crystal provenance, the general realisation that many wellness practises adopted by white women have rough consequences for indigenous peoples, every drink that looks like this, every little dropper bottle full of expensive black liquid that claims to “detoxify”, the Daily Mail, Erewhon, and of course the ultimate mood ring, my iP***e.

Other fun stuff that has happened that you’ve probably seen by now— this NYT diary of a song on SP, along with these beautiful photos by Justin J Wee (who had a Team lyric tattoo and didn’t tell me, way to bury the lede Justin!!!)

I wanted to show you the music box - obviously don’t look at this if you don’t want to see any of the art - but i figured it might help to have it explained. It’s sooo cool.
(We’ve put together a few limited run merch pieces made by NZ makers I love, and you’ll only be able to access these if you’ve purchased the music box. I’m working on these with different makers all the time— expect these to pop up sporadically in the next year. There’ll also be a few exclusive merch designs in there. Regular merch (including some hot hot hot new designs) will all available thru my site.)

Also I finally got my hands on a deluxe vinyl — holyyyyy shiiiiit, you are gonna freak. By far the best vinyl I’ve ever ever made. Massive thanks to my designer Hassan and his team who murdered this. Ophelia’s reaction was very cute.



My goodness, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these emails you send touch me VERY DEEPLY! Don’t know what I did to deserve such sweet, sensitive thoughtful people in my life. I’m replying to a few emails direct when I can.

Firstly, we need to give SCWWTS Kyra props for this INCREDIBLE crocheted SP bag! Like what Kyra!! I’m so impressed.


SCWWTS Matthew sent a lovely thoughtful email pointing out some of the linguistic connections between songs — lines like ‘half of my wardrobe is on your bedroom floor’ and ‘got a memory of waiting in your bed wearing only my earrings’ — he asked “Are these bonds/connections/evolutions between your songs — now spanning three albums/eras and almost a decade — intentionally crafted, or is it more of a spiritual, subconscious thing?” Great question Matthew, they’re almost always intentional. I really love building in those little links and connections between past eras, and I try to be really careful and intentional with how I use language in songs. For example, there’s a moment on Solar Power I rework the ‘every perfect summer’ line from Liability — which invokes the original source while giving it new meaning for a new life stage. And those two lines you mentioned were actually set in the same bedroom. You clever thing.

SCWWTS Declan and SP share a birthday, which is delicious to me!! Happy Birthday, Declan! I’ll be thinking of you and sweet Hamish on the day.

SCsWWTS Felix and Nuria both asked what my favourite nail polish colour is. For a very long time I’ve gotten a shade called Oxblood on my toes. I’m also preferential to a deep, rich brown. I went to a nail salon the other day and realised, ‘Oh, I’ve totally fucked this for myself, I’m gonna be getting these weird looks from people when I’m getting pedicures for the rest of my life.’ It’s lit!

SCWWTS Chris wants to know if I have any interest in learning a language. It’s funny you ask that, Chris, because that’s since crept in as a bit of an upcoming goal. I’m keen to improve my te reo Māori, and I’d also love to learn Spanish one day! I still don’t have my license tho, so…. Maybe that first, Ella?

SCWWTS Sofía wrote, “The tall buildings and nice people of Mexico City are all I have ever know and leaving them behind, even if it could be just for a while, is frightening to me. Do you have any advice to jump head first into new adventures? I would love to hear your thoughts”. Sofía, I struggle with this myself. I find new places and people very stimulating and if I’m not in the right headspace, they can overwhelm me. My therapist gave me a really great way to frame this once, though — she said something along the lines of “This discomfort is a feeling you exchange for getting to live a bright, full life. In going out past your depth, metaphorically speaking, you are making a commitment to being as alive as you possibly can.” I hope that helps.

I guess that’s all? Here’s a photo of me typing this mailer.


Love and other indoor sports,
L xxxx

 

The music sounds pretty similar to Flake by Jack Johnson. Not really feeling it.

 

didn’t like anything about that

 

It kind of sounds like Natasha Bedingfield

 

This could be my favorite one yet but maybe I'm just weird

 

Mine too, a little surprised by the reactions.