Hard News: Friday Music: Full-on First Person
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That Lorde video reminds me of this one
where a rotating light completely changes the actress's expression -
I am not sure what the whole fuss about Lorde is all about. She is a talented teen, no more. There are tons like her out there, there is nothing in her music yet that screams superstar to me. Time will tell, I guess. Mind you the whole Lolita Lana Del Rey meme that seems to be going on right now isn't really to my taste, it is a bit tortured and a little bit pedobear creepy for me.
Anyway, I prefer my fun to be primary colours and blingin' trashy so I reckon if you want actual youth talent that doesn't appeal to Nabakov afficiandoes you'd be better off checking out Becky G...
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I am not sure what the whole fuss about Lorde is all about. She is a talented teen, no more. There are tons like her out there, there is nothing in her music yet that screams superstar to me.
Billboard seems pretty excited about her US radio debut.
And as The Corner noted:
Following the success of ‘Royals’, Lorde has just debuted at number one song on the NZ Top 40 singles chart with ‘Tennis Court’. It’s an achievement that sees her become the first local female solo act to ever have two number one songs, and she also becomes the first local act with a total of four songs in the top 40 chart at the same time – ‘Tennis Court’ (1), ‘Swingin’ Party’ (10), ‘Royals’ (11), ‘The Love Club’ (18).
I think she's going to be big.
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Hadyn Green, in reply to
It’s an achievement that sees her become the first local female solo act to ever have two number one songs
Wait, she's from New Zealand?! TIL
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Sacha, in reply to
I am not sure what the whole fuss about Lorde is all about
Knock me down with a feather.
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I am not sure what the whole fuss about Lorde is all about. She is a talented teen, no more.
If Justin Bieber can be selling his bazillionth whatever based on looking cute, I'm happy with Lorde doing well based on been a talented teen. Particularly that freakin talented - nice to see that being rewarded.
I suspect her music producer has been well chosen, he's using her talent and voice well.
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I absolutely love the Tennis Court video, it's mesmerising.
If the sight of a young woman singing makes you uncomfortable, I think that says more about you than it does about her.
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It doesn't help that the Lorde video refuses to do a traditional lip-sync, which some people find really really irritating. Like what the Pixies did with their "Here Comes Your Man" video.
It takes major presence to hold the camera like that for a whole song - like Sinead O'Connor in "Nothing Compares 2 U" or Alanis Morrissette in "Head Over Feet". It's a brave move for Lorde, but she pulls it off. It's more what's not shown in the video - the promise/threat of the unknown - that makes it work. What would she look like down at the tennis courts? With her hair down? Lip-synching the full song? And what is the bottom half of her shirt like? Crikey!
BTW, Benny Tipene's solo stuff is brilliant. He seems relentlessly focused on his music career, and even if he doesn't win The X Factor, surely he'll get snapped up by someone who recognises his many talents.
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Hebe,
I like that Lorde and her dark pop: tints of shoe-gazing and Katy Perry-when-she-was-good magimixed into her own blend. Great. And 16!
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Max Rose, in reply to
Mind you the whole Lolita Lana Del Rey meme that seems to be going on right now isn't really to my taste, it is a bit tortured and a little bit pedobear creepy for me.
Projecting, much? I haven't seen the videos yet, so I don't know what she looks like or how she's being marketed, but I do know that the first time I heard Royals it sounded like an amazingly assured pop song. I also know that there had been a huge buzz around that song before any videos came out, and most of the dedicated early fans of her that I knew were women not that much older than her. It's hardly as if they're going for the Humbert Humbert market.
She is a talented teen, no more.
The same could have been said for Frank Sinatra or Mike Oldfield. "Talent" is the operative word, and to have it together with an apparent maturity and assurance at such a young age is just a bonus. I really don't see your problem.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
It’s hardly as if they’re going for the Humbert Humbert market.
Quite. I don't think that's the case at all.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I suspect her music producer has been well chosen, he’s using her talent and voice well.
It's Joel Little, formerly of the fairly derivative local pop-punk band Goodnight Nurse, who really seems to have found his niche. He co-writes and produces.
I'm told that when Lorde was younger, it was Rikki Morris who suggested she write her own songs -- and she told him that, yes, she had songs in her head but had no idea how to write one. So he was the first one to show her how to start.
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Max Rose, in reply to
Quite. I don't think that's the case at all.
I've just had the chance to watch the Tennis Courts video, and it looks like someone said to the director: "You know the whole Lolita thing? Simpering schoolgirl, heart-shaped glasses, ruby lips sucking a lollipop? Can you do something as far as humanly possible from that?"
Mind you, I need to listen to the lyrics more carefully. If they're full of densely allusive multilingual puns and playful metafictional devices, then maybe Tom's right about appealing to "Nabakov afficiandoes".
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About the on-camera-all-the-time aspect, I found it interesting to compare the original clip for Royals (by the same director as Tennis Court):
with its re-cut for the US market:
and note that Ella deberately chose to keep herself out of early publicity around her music.
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Robyn Gallagher, in reply to
It's hardly as if they're going for the Humbert Humbert market.
Heh, just imagine if Lorde had made a version of the "...Baby One More Time" video with her surly Takapuna Grammar mates.
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BenWilson, in reply to
She is a talented teen, no more. There are tons like her out there, there is nothing in her music yet that screams superstar to me.
Perhaps not but there's also nothing that screams "couldn't be a superstar" either. I like both her hits. That's a bloody good ratio for me and a female teen vocalist. It's a funny old game and I wish her the best of luck with stardom.
If the sight of a young woman singing makes you uncomfortable, I think that says more about you than it does about her.
That's a bit unfair. I think some of the point of the video is to create an intimacy with her. Why else would you look at someone looking back at you basically doing nothing much for 3 minutes? I think there's some kind of commentary intended by it, an attempt to make the audience a little bit uncomfortable. I actually got bored with it, and did something else with my eyes, but kept the music on because it's good. Tom has some sort of point in there about a kind of voyeuristic implication. "Pedobear", though? That's just Tom being his edgy self, how he rolls.
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Lilith __, in reply to
The way she looks at the camera is confrontational. But does any closeness the viewer feels have to be a sexual intimacy? Couldn't it be empathy, or sharing a confidence? I feel like Lorde's telling me a story, or a secret.
Is it possible for a female performer to appear in a music video without being seen as sexually provocative? I wish we had other ways of looking and relating.
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BenWilson, in reply to
Is it possible for a female performer to appear in a music video without being seen as sexually provocative?
Don't know, but old men who look for long periods of time at young girls, staring directly into their eyes, are considered creepy. It's a hard feeling to shake, even though it's just me and the screen. Maybe you're right, perhaps Tom was projecting.
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Just for comparison, this is a young woman being provocative at the camera:
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Hebe,
I see this girl as open, showing vulnerability even. I find it disturbing that it is seen as being sexually provocative.
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Well, David Saunders with Street Chant was, by general acclaim, a highly successful experiment that should be repeated.
And Flying Nun nerds will doubtless be excited to know that they covered the Alpaca Brothers' 'The Lie':
Yay!
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Robyn Gallagher, in reply to
I see this girl as open, showing vulnerability even. I find it disturbing that it is seen as being sexually provocative.
In a way it's a quintessential experience of being a teenage girl. There you are, wearing that cool skirt from Glassons you just bought, trying to be cool, trying not to be a total weirdo, when along comes some guy as old as your dad, who tells you you're being a bit of a saucy minx and you really shouldn't dress like that.
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JacksonP, in reply to
Yay!
I really enjoyed last night. Few pictures from the show.
David Saunders and Street Chant.
Orchestra of Spheres.
Hallelujah Picassos. (They were so great).
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for those who missed it, full video of Hallelujah Picassos set
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Hebe, in reply to
Exactly. There's an element of playing in front of the mirror, trying out persona.
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