Pure Heroine: the Birth of a Modern Alternative Icon

Written by Alex Kehn

New Zeland native Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, professionally known as Lorde, released her debut album, Pure Heroine, in 2013 at the age of 16 and has been a staple of electropop and alternative music ever since. Pure Heroine takes a realistic look at modern teenage frustrations and provides a thorough critique of current societal expectations. This review will delve into the lyricism, production, and issues present throughout Lorde's angst-filled, rebellious debut album.

Lyrics:

Lyrically, Lorde excels at storytelling, painting a vivid picture with every track. Lorde sets the scene perfectly with her exceptionally detailed descriptions of events and locations, totally encapsulating the listener directly into the track. Ella pulls the listener in with her unique euponic singing and keeps the listener enthralled throughout the album via the use of her outstanding lyrical ability. Pure Heroine is based on Lorde's early teenage life leading up to fame, as well as her early days of being famous.

During the first five tracks, Lorde expresses how she lived her life before becoming famous. On the opening track, Tennis Court, Lorde tells of her rebellious teenage life, exclaiming "it's a new art form showing people how little we care", which encompasses much of the teenage angst that most people will experience in their lives. Later, Lorde depicts her first flight, stating that she will be able to "see the veins of my city like they do in space", which is a lyric that symbolizes the 'lift-off' of her career and is a strong demonstration of Lorde's phenominal storytelling. Every time I hear Lorde's description of her flight I feel as though I am also on the plane seeing what she sees, which shows just how strong her storytelling ability is.

Royals, Lorde's first major hit single, is contradictory to her aristocratic stage name in nearly every way. Throughout the track, Ella explains how she has never been wealthy, and as a result hasn't experienced the things that most contemporary songs are about. Lorde goes on to say that she wants to live a life of wealth, but doesn't believe it's possible by saying "you could call me queen bee, and baby I'll rule. let me live that fantasy". Lorde's fantasy eventually becomes a reality, which is clear based on her stage name, however the second half of the album expresses how fame can have some profound downsides.

On Still Sane, Lorde struggles with the reality of fame and fortune, asking herself questions like "only bad people see their likeness in stone. What does that make me?" Ella is asking herself if her influence is truly good for people or if it is causing harm, simply because she is seeing her likeness 'carved into stone' through her music. The thought of Lorde being a bad person is quickly thrown to the side, however, when she reveals that she won't be stopped in the pursuit of fame through the lyric "I'm little but I'm coming for the crown". The second half of Pure Heroine is the opposite of the first half, where the problems are swapped from having no fame to being a victim of celebrity.

Finally, Pure Heroine is tied together with the first lyric on track 1, Tennis Court, and the last lyric on track 10, A World Alone. On the first track, Lorde begins with the question "don't you think that it's boring how people talk?", and finishes the album with the lyric "let them talk", which ties the album together perfectly, making it feel complete.

Production:

The production on Pure Heroine is fantastic, especially considering that the entire album was produced by one man, Joel Little, in his small Auckland, New Zeland studio. Joel Little took every major aspect of electropop and house music and incorporated them into his production style for Lorde's debut album. The low bass kicks, snare drums and vocal distortion are all primary parts of Pure Heroine's beat production. When combined together, Lorde's voice and the beats compliment each other perfectly, creating a seamless listening experience.

On many tracks throughout the LP, Lorde's voice is distorted and layered, which creates a unique vocal presentation on top of some experimental indiepop beats. The drums and bass throughout Pure Heroine really work together to elevate the beats to a new level, and draw every track together perfectly. Amazingly, this entire project was produced and completed within one year and topped many year-end lists in 2013 for production despite being created at a studio with limited funds and equipment, which is a testament to how good the production on this album truly is.

Issues:

There are very few problems with Pure Heroine as a whole, but the album is not without its flaws. Despite the praise that the lyricism received earlier in this review, the final 3 songs feel almost like patched together verses with strong choruses. The track that feels like it truly does not belong on this album is Ribs. Ribs consists of relatively lazy verses, and the chorus, unfortunately, is just a sped-up version of the verses, which is very uncharacteristic of the rest of the album. On the final 3 tracks, the album begins to drag on slightly, making the short half-hour runtime feel closer to an hour. I found myself having to take breaks from listening during the second half of the album due to vocal repetitveness, but that only happened a few times during my 5+ listens.

Conclusion:

Pure Heroine is a lyrical masterpiece tied together with gorgeous, intricate production that stands the test of time. The flaws of this album, no matter how minor, do retract slightly from the general enjoyablilty on Lorde's debut album. Pure Heroine was a great start for Lorde and helped push her in the right direction for the release of her future projects, most notably her 2017 smash hit album Melodrama. I rate this album 7.5/10.

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