Pure Heroine – Lorde ★★★★

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2013	Pure Heroine	Lorde	★★★★	80	Pop	Indie Pop

Pure Heroine offers everything you could possibly want from an indie pop record. Written and recorded when Lorde was 15 and 16 years old, the album displays the expertise a young musician would have growing up through the social media age and mixtape era. 

The album offers a murderer’s row of hit-quality songs that make you feel happy, youthful, carefree and, at times, reflective. I always felt  “Royals” and “Tennis Court” got a little more popular than they deserved, but when paired with “Team”, “White Teeth Teens” “A World Alone” and “Ribs” — one of the decade’s best pop songs — it’s hard to find another pop record with a lineup that strong.  

The instrumentals throughout are fun but simple, with Lorde and producer Joel Little opting for MIDI instruments, pianos, subtle synths and rudimentary programmed drum beats that give the album a DIY feeling while allowing her voice and lyrics to always be the star of the show. 

Lorde’s lyrics rely on basic but effective imagery and abstractly relatable themes that authentically tap into the slight awkwardness and edginess of a typical teenager. The song’s hooks are catchy and memorable, but without being over the top or too dramatic. 

Nothing Lorde does on Pure Heroine sounds particularly extraordinary or groundbreaking. And compared to some of her more artsy peers in 2013 like Jessie Ware, Sky Ferreira and St. Vincent, songs can feel straight-forward at times. 

But, thanks to the combination of her relatability and a little bit of mystique, she masterfully straddles the line of being a standard radio pop musician and an indie artist with a distinct voice and delivery, working to express herself.  

She’s just personal and interesting enough to capture the attention of the indie and hipster crowds — and to inspire a future generation of young musicians — while being accessible enough to be marketed to a wide audience, a key characteristic that propelled her future releases to huge commercial success.