TRACK BY TRACK: Lorde's 'Melodrama'

Praise the Lorde! After much anticipation, Lorde is back with a newer and more mature sound in her sophomore album Melodrama, the long-awaited follow-up to her hugely successful debut album Pure Heroine , which featured her Grammy-winning smash hit "Royals". The music world hasn’t been the same these past 4 years without her edgy take on the nature of teenage relationships and growing up. Melodrama is just that -- melodramatic. With emotions ranging from lively and upbeat to scraping the depths of despair, she introduces us to a world that is as real as it is entertaining.

Check out a breakdown of the album below!

(* = Explicit Lyrics)

1. “Green Light”

Lorde opens Melodrama with her first single, “Green Light”. The cutting lyrics and electric beat create the perfect dance party tune. The song describes the in-between time that comes after a rough break-up and moving on. All she wants is the "green light" to start her life again. I think that a new album is the perfect place to start, Lorde!

Favorite Lyrics: “’Cause, honey, I’ll come get my things, but I can’t let go / (I’m waiting for it, that green light, I want it) / Oh, I wish I could get my things and just let go...”

2. “Sober”*

When the weekends start to seem like a different world entirely and you slowly become a different person, leaving all inhibitions behind, you are entering the world of “Sober”. It’s midnight, lines are blurred, feelings multiply at alarming rates, and Lorde is giving in to temptation... but what will happen in the morning? Nothing kills these vibes quite like the sight of daytime.

Favorite Lyrics: “We know that it’s over / In the morning, you’ll be dancing with all the heartache / And the treason, the fantasies of leaving...”

3. “Homemade Dynamite”*

If you’re not partying yet, you will be after track three. Lorde talks about a destructive party situation in this tune – behaving badly, lying, and driving carelessly. Although I wouldn’t recommend using this song as a method of advice or a to-do list, I would recommend listening to it as much as you can. The way she effortlessly pieces lyrics together, making even the craziest night of pure destruction sound like a beautiful image, is incredible. Party on!

Favorite Lyrics: “So let’s let things come out of the woodwork / I’ll give you my best side, tell you all my best lies...”

4. “The Louvre”

The Louvre Museum holds some of the most magnificent and famous artwork in the world. Naturally, Lorde’s obsession with her relationship in this song leads her to believe that even their love could be put on display in the iconic museum. It’s obvious that Lorde saw her fair share of romance while writing this album, but this particular song is slightly different than the rest. “The Louvre” is all about obsession, craze, and not thinking clearly. Her heart is beating so fast that it just might beat out of her chest. Now, that could be an interesting museum exhibit!

Favorite Lyrics: “Okay I know that you are not my type / Still I fall / I’m just a sucker, let you fill her mind...”

5. “Liability”

Okay, you might need to have tissues handy to listen to this one. After being brutally broken up with, Lorde is left to herself, the only one she finds immune to her disappointment. Lorde’s sad tone along with the harrowing sounds of the piano cut deep into your emotions. To anyone who has ever been made to feel like you are not enough, this song is for you – to cry to, to relate to, to love. You are enough and no one should ever make you feel this way!

Favorite Lyrics: “So they pull back, make other plans / I understand, I’m a liability / Get you wild, make you leave...”

6. “Hard Feelings/Loveless”*

This track is one of the best on the album, because it’s kind of a two-in-one! The first part of the song, “Hard Feelings”, focuses on the sadness of a lost love. Even after trying so hard to keep the love afloat, if both members of the relationship aren’t willing to work hard at it, the feelings will dissipate. Lorde has "hard feelings" toward him for not being as real and honest as she was. She gets all the revenge she needs in the second part of the song, “Loveless”. The song suddenly makes you want to get up and dance, as Lorde writes off the boy who did her wrong. She has plans to mess his life up. If I were him, I’d run because this girl isn’t messing around!

Favorite Lyrics: “The waves come after midnight / I call from underwater / Why even try to get right? / When you’ve outgrown a lover / The whole world knows but you...”

7. “Sober II (Melodrama)”*

One of Lorde’s best qualities on this album is her ability to tell a complete story. “Sober II (Melodrama)” is the perfect follow-up to “Sober”. Every party ends and this song beautifully describes the aftermath of the destructions she set up in track two. The clean-up required goes beyond broken champagne glasses; the morning is harsh and questions of reality arise – very melodramatic.

Favorite Lyrics: “They’ll talk about us / All the lovers / How we kiss and kill each other / Woah...”

8. “Writer In the Dark”

Lorde explains the process of heartache for someone who feels things on a tremendous level in “Writer In the Dark”. In this heart-breaking song about giving so much and having someone take it all and then some, Lorde portrays the way she holds on to her feelings as someone who loves insanely, but also someone who takes all things to heart. By writing songs, she finds a way to get over him, but she wants to make sure he knows exactly the way he made her feel. Tell him, girl!

Favorite Lyrics: “Bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark / Now she’s gonna play and sing and lock you in her heart...”

9. “Supercut”

“Supercut” is all about repetition, playing the same scenes over and over in your head, trying to figure out what went wrong. Lorde’s use of repetition in the lyrics actually makes you feel like you’re seeing this story play out again and again. Even in slow motion, the relationship moved and ended too quickly, and when she tries to reach for him again, all she has are the memories. This one might be the most articulate expression from Lorde yet!

Favorite Lyrics: “’Cause in my head / In my head I do everything right / (When you call) When you call I forgive and not fight / All the moments I play in the dark / I am florescent / Come home to my heart, oh...”

10. “Liability (Reprise)”*

In this short reprise, Lorde reopens the wound of “Liability”. She contemplates whether or not all of the bad stuff that happens is part of the party, whether she’s going to let someone get her down, and the immensity of the toll these low times are taking on her dreams. The lyrics are minimal, but the feeling and meaning behind this tune are incredibly important to the completion of the album.

Favorite Lyrics: “And maybe all this is the party / Maybe the tears and the highs we breathe / Oh, no / And maybe all this is the party / Maybe we just do it violently...”

11. “Perfect Places”*

Melodrama is all about growing up, so, per typical Lorde fashion, she polishes it off with the most fitting track that shows the most growth. “Perfect Places” is her analysis of the way she and her friends handle life -- gracelessly and intensely. Their constant disappointment leads them to find methods of losing themselves for the night, fading away to, hopefully, a "perfect place". In the end, she realizes that even getting wasted to forget your issues doesn’t create such a place. Do these places exist? I don’t know, but listening to this song and the entirety of this album creates a place I’m sure is pretty close to it!

Favorite Lyrics: “Every night, I live and die / Meet somebody, take ‘em home...”

Which new Lorde song is your favorite?

Melodrama is now available everywhere!

(Image via FayesVision/WENN)

- Kayla Miracle, YH Contributing Writer