Lorde reflects on Solar Power: ‘Actually, I don’t think this is me’

Lorde has given a new interview in which she reflects on her polarising 2021 album Solar Power, revealing that she realised the album didn’t accurately represent her.

The ‘Ribs’ singer appeared on a recent episode of Therapuss with Jake Shane podcast to promote her upcoming album Virgin. Whilst speaking with Shane, the topic of her previous album came up.

“I love ‘Solar Power’ so much, and I truly needed to make it,” she revealed. “I wouldn’t be here with another album if I hadn’t made Solar Power. But it showed me that you have no choice but to be who you’re supposed to be.

“Me disappearing and being all wafty… I was like ‘actually, I don’t think this is me.’ I think I just am this person who’s meant to make these bangers that fuck us all up.”

The album, which spawned the singles ‘Solar Power’, ‘Stoned At The Nail Salon’, ‘Mood Ring’ and ‘Fallen Fruit’, received mixed reviews upon its release, with most critics noting the album’s stark shift in sound from the singer’s previous work.

‘What Was That’, the lead single of Virgin, was noted for its return to the sounds of Melodrama, the singer’s 2017 GRAMMY Award-nominated sophomore album.

“At the end of Melodrama I really had this kind of, not meltdown, but I remember feeling all of a sudden like ‘Hold on, this thing I did as a hobby, that I did after school, is now my employment and I employ all these other people… it’s gotten too big, like, I’m a kid.

“I felt scared. I was getting that little bit older and that new crop was coming in and I was like ‘I don’t know that I want to do this at this level'”, the star revealed. “Solar Power came from a place for feeling very joyful and chill.

“It was also so crazy touring Melodrama. I found it very intense for that whole time to be in this endless hardcore music [atmosphere] every night,” she said. “I found it pretty intense and I just wanted something light and easy after that. It was cool.”