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Signed to a major label at an early age, she was groomed in the darkness of studios, the label knowing the potential they had in their singer/songwriter. She wrote on her own, then she was paired with a sympathetic producer/songwriter, live performances taking a back seat to woodshedding. If this story in the early years of the 2010s brings to mind, it's no coincidence that it also applies to New Zealand singer/songwriter, whose 2013 debut, contains all of the stylized goth foreboding of 's and almost none of the louche, languid glamour. This is not a small thing. Is a self-created starlet willing herself into stardom but fancies herself a poet, churning away at the darker recesses of her soul. Some of this may be due to age., as any pre-release review or portrait helpfully illustrated, was only 16 when she wrote and recorded with producer, and an adolescent aggrievance and angst certainly underpin the songs here. Favors a tragic romanticism, an all-or-nothing melodrama that accentuates with his alternately moody and insistent productions.
Where favors a studiously detached irony, pours it all out which, in itself, may be an act: her bedsit poetry is superficially more authentic but the music is certainly more pop, both in its construction - there are big hooks in the choruses and verses - and in the production, which accentuates a sad shimmer where everything is beautiful and broken. There is a topical appeal here, particularly because and do spend so much time on the surface, turning it into something seductive, but it is no more real than the studied detachment of, who so strongly (and intentionally) resembles. Is meant to be appreciated as slippery, elusive pop; seems to hint at the truth.but the truth is, is a pop invention as much as and is not nearly as honest about her intentions.
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2013 256 kbps File release of Pure Heroine (Extended) on Discogs. Lorde: Pure Heroine (Extended) - Music on Google Play. Pure Heroine is the debut studio album by New Zealand singer Lorde, which was released through. Streaming and by permanent download to your computer and/or device.
An Extended Edition added five extra tracks.
'No Better' | |
---|---|
Promotional single by Lorde | |
from the album Pure Heroine[a] | |
Released | 13 December 2013 |
Format | Digital download |
Studio | Golden Age Studios, Morningside, Auckland, New Zealand |
Genre | |
Length | 2:50 |
Label | Universal |
Songwriter(s) | |
Producer(s) | Joel Little |
'No Better' is a song by New Zealand singer Lorde, taken from the extended version of her debut studio album Pure Heroine (2013). The track was released on 13 December 2013 by Universal Music Group as a promotional tool for the album. 'No Better' is an electropop and trip hop ballad with elements of hip hop, in which Lorde discusses an infatuation. Music critics opined that the single has similar musical style to songs from Pure Heroine.
- 5References
Background and composition[edit]
A 17 second sample of 'No Better', combining electropop and trip hop genres with hip hop elements. | |
Problems playing this file? See media help. |
'No Better' was written by Lorde (credited under her birth-name Ella Yelich-O'Connor) and Joel Little.[1] On 13 December 2013, the track was released as a digital downloadsingle on the iTunes Store.[2] The single was made available for free until 19 December as a part of the iTunes Store's '12 Days of Gifts' Christmas promotion.[3]
'No Better' is an electropop and trip hop ballad with hip hop elements.[4][5] The song has a similar sonority to that of other songs from Pure Heroine, featuring Lorde's 'feathery' vocals and minimal production.[6] It incorporates 'woozy' basslines,[7] and 'pulsing' synthesisers in its instrumentation,[8] making the song's melody 'dreamy', according to Whitney Phaneuf of HitFix.[9] Lyrically, the song features Lorde '[celebrating] an infatuation that deepens as the seasons change'.[8] At the first verse, she sings 'We roll in every summer when there's strength in our numbers / And your breath's hot and gross but I kiss you like a lover'.[9] During the chorus the bass beat becomes more intense as Lorde sings 'Go all the way / Have your fun, have it all'.[9]
Reception[edit]
Marc Hogan from Spin wrote that the song 'flits between fairly vivid first-person details',[4] while Whitney Phaneuf from HitFix labelled 'No Better' a 'sexy' track.[9] Eric Danton of Rolling Stone opined that the lyrics of the song are 'girlish and knowing'.[8] Writing for Slate, L. V. Anderson shared that 'No Better' is reminiscent of some of the best tracks on Pure Heroine, but also 'lighter, simpler [...] and more confectionary than most of her debut album', in spite of its dark theme.[10]'No Better' entered the New Zealand Artists Singles Chart at number seven on 23 December 2013. It dropped to number nineteen the following week,[11] before falling out of the chart.[12]
Track listing[edit]
- Digital download[2]
- 'No Better' – 2:50
- 'Royals' (music video) – 4:03
Release history[edit]
Region | Format | Date | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | Digital download | 13 December 2013 | Universal | [2] |
Belgium | [13] | |||
Finland | [14] | |||
Germany | [15] | |||
India | [16] | |||
Ireland | [17] | |||
New Zealand | [18] | |||
Portugal | [19] | |||
Spain | [20] | |||
Switzerland | [21] | |||
United Kingdom | [22] | |||
United States | [23] |
References[edit]
![Heroine Heroine](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vtlVwKcR8Ro/UsemfKyETmI/AAAAAAAAACs/L0fDeNqH95c/s1600/Lorde+PNG.png)
Notes[edit]
- ^'No Better' appears on the extended version of Pure Heroine exclusively on the iTunes Store.
Citations[edit]
- ^'No Better'. Australasian Performing Right Association. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
- ^ abc'No Better – Single by Lorde'. Australia: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'iTunes 12 Days of Gifts'. The Daily Telegraph. 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
- ^ abHogan, Marc (2013-12-13). 'Hear Lorde's Bassy Stealth Single 'No Better''. Spin. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^Coplan, Chris (2013-12-13). 'Listen: Lorde's surprise new single, 'No Better''. Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^Williams, Tom (2013-12-14). 'Listen To Lorde's New Single 'No Better''. Music Feeds. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^Williott, Carl (2013-12-13). 'Lorde Drops 'No Better': Hear The 'Pure Heroine' Leftover'. Idolator. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^ abcDanton, Eric (2013-12-13). 'Lorde Breezes Through Seasons In 'No Better''. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^ abcdPhaneuf, Whitney (2013-12-13). 'Lorde raps about teenage lust on surprise new single 'No Better''. HitFix. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^Anderson, L. V. (2013-12-13). 'Lorde's 'No Better': A light, confectionary contender for song of the summer'. Slate. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'Top 20 New Zealand Singles Chart'. Recorded Music NZ. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^'Top 20 New Zealand Singles Chart'. Recorded Music NZ. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^'No Better – Single by Lorde'. Belgium: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single by Lorde'. Finland: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single von Lorde' (in German). Germany: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single by Lorde'. India: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single by Lorde'. Ireland: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single by Lorde'. New Zealand: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single de Lorde' (in Portuguese). Portugal: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single de Lorde' (in Spanish). Spain: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single von Lorde' (in German). Switzerland: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single by Lorde'. United Kingdom: iTunes Store (Apple). Retrieved 2014-05-22.
- ^'No Better – Single by Lorde'. United States: iTunes Store (Apple). Archived from the original on December 21, 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-17.
External links[edit]
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=No_Better&oldid=919031541'
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