Shapeshifter first listen! If yall disappoint me istg

 

should i start over or continue from where I was at? honestly I think i might just continue lol 

shapeshifter

broken glass

david

 

easy top 3 for me!

 

Edited June 27, 20251 yr by masochizm

why in the first 33 seconds of it is Broken Glass serving the best pop song ever

why is Broken Glass a 10/10 pop song okay

production on If She Could See Me Now goes so f*cking crazy it's cuckoo bananes 

I'm shook, fr this could very well be her best album front to back

Unfortunately I'm not feeling it on first listen, it all feels a bit contrived and artificial?  As if she set out to create what people would expect a Lorde album to be, most of the lyrics are weightless and a lot of the production choices are derivative of Melodrama. People who are not into her recent output are often getting accused of 'being stuck in the Melodrama era' but I feel like it's actually Lorde who cannot escape the legacy of that album, and she backtracked from experimenting after the lukewarm reception of Solar Power. There are some more daring moments of greatness (like Current Affairs), and some genuinely solid moments (like Shapeshifter), but it sounds like an album she could put together with her eyes closed anytime.

 

It is by no means a bad album (and I'll probably have to spend some more time with it), but my first impression is that it's very middle-of-the-road for a 4th album and especially after such a long wait.

wow David is very stunning! definitely ends a bit abruptly but I can get used to it 

 

overall, really phenomenal album. I'm feeling her most introspective lyrics to date, some of her best melodies, and definitely her most powerful vocals yet. she feels like a capital v Vocalist here and there's a sense of freedom she's strived for in the past that she really captures here a bit more effortlessly. it's no holds barred, in a way  I can foresee myself having this on repeat for a LONG time! standouts on first listen: Hammer (which I already loved), Favourite Daughter, Current Affairs, Broken Glass, and If She Could See Me Now  but there's no weak track in sight, truly! Favourite Daughter and  Broken Glass are kind of mini pop masterpieces, Broken Glass almost feels like a more evolved Supercut sonically

TONIGHT I JUST WANNA FALL

 

I know I said this the other night but I'm so f*cking impressed with how she gives the Suga Suga interpolation as a cute throwaway moment and then matches the perfect hook of that song with her own equally perfect hook

like this is what pop dreams are motherf*cking made of b*tch!

Any Eusexuars in the room? I see a spiritual connection between Shapeshifter and Sticky

24 minutes ago, RT Air said:

Unfortunately I'm not feeling it on first listen, it all feels a bit contrived and artificial?  As if she set out to create what people would expect a Lorde album to be, most of the lyrics are weightless and a lot of the production choices are derivative of Melodrama. People who are not into her recent output are often getting accused of 'being stuck in the Melodrama era' but I feel like it's actually Lorde who cannot escape the legacy of that album, and she backtracked from experimenting after the lukewarm reception of Solar Power. There are some more daring moments of greatness (like Current Affairs), and some genuinely solid moments (like Shapeshifter), but it sounds like an album she could put together with her eyes closed anytime.

 

It is by no means a bad album (and I'll probably have to spend some more time with it), but my first impression is that it's very middle-of-the-road for a 4th album and especially after such a long wait.

very very very much agree with all of this, even though solar power was critically panned i appreciate she was exploring new territory

 

this is arguably better in terms of listening experience, but because its so middle of the road i'm not scalped by anything

gonna do a second listen rn cause why not lolll 

6 minutes ago, Everyperfectsummer said:

Any Eusexuars in the room? I see a spiritual connection between Shapeshifter and Sticky

I can hear that!!

I'm glad most of you guys are loving the album.

 

I fear it's time for me to leave Camp Lorde. I might give this another listen later, but... there's very little here that I can relate to or that excites me.

on second listen, Shapeshifter is growing on me a lil more but tbh it's not top tier on this album for me yet  

Does anyone know a way to watch her Glastonbury set?

It should be starting about now.

 

 

this is gonna sound weird but it makes sense in my head… Paramore needs to make some glam rock bangers in the same vein as Favourite Daughter on their next album for f*cking real. if they wanna ever meet the peaks of their self-titled album again, that is the direction they need to move towards lol

5 minutes ago, Letemtalk said:

Does anyone know a way to watch her Glastonbury set?

It should be starting about now.

 

 

its on her IG live. she is seemingly performing the album in order.

Overall, slightly better Lorde than a Solar Power Lorde. Someone on RYM said that she is not as universally relatable anymore because adults are less archetypical than teenagers and I agree. Virgin has a much stronger pov in comparison to SP. And because of that I will say that I am really enjoying the lyrics on this, especially honesty of songs like Shapeshifter, and the album's overall focus on hypersexuality and its relation to generational trauma is massively intriguing. But sadly the production does not much to compliment the themes of the record. Yes, it has an identity, but I can't stop thinking that someone like Oneohtrix Point Never would really help to bring these motifs to full realisation. I can only hope that in the future Lorde will take risky leaps regarding who she chooses to work with, because even before What Was That was released, Jim-E Stack already seemed like too safe of an option.

 

Having said all that, I adore Shapeshifter, it really moves me. Also can't stop bopping to Favourite Daughter. Not as big on David yet as everyone else seems to be

She might be going to perform the entire album, at least she started off with the first three tracks.

 

1 minute ago, Letemtalk said:

She might be going to perform the entire album, at least she started off with the first three tracks.

 

She is! Did MOTY and Favourite Daughter now. She sounds good

i laughed, i cried, i danced, i had an epiphany. 

 

there's not even a point in comparing to her previous work cause everything is clearly a thing of their own. and all great and immaculate in her own sphere and universe, always. 

 

transparent, raw, flawless, honest. 

 

AOTY.

10 hours ago, slowednreverb said:

I'm kinda sad how stans panned Radical Optimism but will glaze this record when RO is a very well done, very good pop album. Virgin will not get half the lashings despite committing the same offense of overpromising and underdelivering.

 

 

lorde promised a raw record with jim-e stacks production and that's basically exactly what we got at the end….dua lipa promised a psychedelic record and worked with tame impala and what we got was an anne-marie project with about as much psychedelic influence as an ava max album

 

Edited June 27, 20251 yr by Minto

the way almost nobody is watching her IG live 😭