re: So I hear Lorde is a Poet.

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The first thing that strikes me about Lorde’s songs is the subtle and gorgeous layering of music hiding in the words. It is as though her words are musical notes first and foremost, and after that honeyed ringing in your ear are ready to lead you elsewhere. Take ‘Tennis Court’ for example. Here there is a rippling of ‘i’ notes creating secret chords, as in kill, million, thrill, minute, it, little, tennis, pictures, wicked, window. I love the way, in the first verse, amidst these sounds, ‘bright’ strikes out, shifting the sound and reinforcing the image. Such musical effects are what hook you in and soothe the body, but there is more. This is a layered song with gaps and miniature self-confessions (‘how can I frick with the fun again when I’m known’) that tug at you. Lorde doesn’t spell everything out but leaves clues (‘It looked all right in the pictures/ getting caught’s half the trip of it, though isn’t it?’).

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Lorde’s lyrics are there for all to hear (and see), but we are not going to hear (and see) everything. She tells and she does not tell. The economy of production allows great room for the voice and the word-notes to breath and resonate. There are masks (the clown, who am I?), there is bad behaviour (trashing hotel rooms) and there is contemplation (getting old). Lorde says in her album notes that she ‘poured her brain and her heart into this’ (and I would add ear) and it shows. Put this album on and you can enter the lyric with your brain, heart and ear and discover (again) the power of words to make your body move. It’s poetry.

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