On Thursday, March 2, 2017, Lorde released the song “Green Light” from her new and not yet released album “Melodrama” (yes, the anticipation is killing me, too).
My fingers could not race faster as I breathlessly searched for the song on YouTube after seeing the singer’s post on Facebook.
The song starts with slow piano, her voice floating through the air. The video for “Green Light” gives us a close-up of Lorde’s face, with her highlight glowing and lips a light peach – different from her usually darker, bewitching look.
The lyrics reveal that this song could be about a break-up, “I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth/ She thinks you love the beach, you’re such a damn liar.” The familiar angst is there in her voice and lyrics, and losing someone you love is something we can all relate to.
As her voice picks up, so does the beat, flickering and floating as she glides through a dark club scene in the video.
As we are listening, we are expecting something similar to Lorde’s darker and more moody songs, and as the video hits around 50 seconds, we wait to dwelve into a synthy, velvety downbeat – but instead the notes swing up into a light and bubbly upbeat that is reminiscent of a pop song as Lorde sings, “But I hear sounds in my mind, brand new sounds in my mind.”
i am so proud of this song. it’s very different, and kinda unexpected. it’s complex and funny and sad and joyous and it’ll make you DANCE
— Lorde (@lorde) March 1, 2017
Lorde strides out of the club and reveals she is wearing a short, bright fuchsia dress as she hops in the car that has come to pick her up.
The rest of the video is her letting go “I’m waiting for it, that green light, I want it,” as she dances and twirls through the city, dances on top of cars and bounces through clubs, and sings in the bathroom and flips her dark hair in wild and tumultuous spins.
It is our same Lorde, just rejuvenated and ready for something new.
The video ends with her standing with the sun rising behind her as the sky wakes up in orange and purple hues – marking the sun setting on her old album and the rise of the new?
Many Lorde fans have complained about the new sound of the song, worried that it is not the same dark and moody Lorde sound we grew to love in “Pure Heroine.”
However, others have applauded Lorde’s new release and are ready for more.
. @lorde that’s a yus kween dance on that @lyft
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) March 2, 2017
Lorde’s first album was written pre-fame and was about her emotions and experiences as a teenager, lyrics and sounds that translated beautifully to people across the world.
This new album will be released after the height of her first, and will be a reflection on her new-found fame and how her life has changed.
Many Lorde’s fans are around her age (I, myself am the same age as the singer, our birthdays only a few days apart), and as she sees her life transition, we see ours changing as well.
We will experience “Melodrama” with new eyes and ears and will be able to feel the new chapter of our lives unfolding.
For Lorde, it isn’t just music. Her songs are intensely personal, and reflect her life, her stories, and her mediations and ruminations on how she is changing and growing through her music. As she changes, so will her music.