Wiki
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Release Date
20 August 2021
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Length
12 tracks
Solar Power is the third studio album by New Zealand singer and songwriter Lorde, released on 20 August, 2021 by Universal Music. Lorde wrote and produced the album with American musician Jack Antonoff, whom she worked with on her second studio album, Melodrama (2017), as well. She opted against CDs for environmental reasons, releasing Solar Power to digital music platforms, streaming services, and as vinyl LPs only.
The album was preceded by Going South, a June 2021 memoir documenting Lorde's 2019 visit to Antarctica, which she dubbed as the precursor to the album. She stated the title Solar Power was inspired by the trip, and that she "felt like could just chill out and flex a little bit" while creating the record.
Classified by Lorde as her "weed album", Solar Power is a psychedelic pop and indie folk effort driven by acoustic guitar arrangements, marking a departure from the synth-heavy, dance-oriented music of her previous works. The album's lyrics revolve around solipsism and summer escapism, mainly focusing on Lorde's leisure time in her homeland New Zealand, simultaneously expressing her disdain for fame and celebrity culture.
On June 10, 2021, the year’s only solar eclipse, Lorde released the album’s lead single Solar Power and sent an email to fans, revealing it is also the album’s title. The song was also accompanied by a music video.
On June 21, 2021, the summer solstice, the album became available to pre-order on Lorde’s website, revealing the tracklist and final release date. She also sent another email to fans writing:
"Greetings my babies, and happy solstice.
For those who don’t know, the summer solstice is the day when the Sun charts her longest course through the sky. It’s the longest and most light day of the year. Cultures have celebrated the solstice for thousands of years— with singing, dancing, ceremonies, fires, and feasts. It’s a day to toast fertility and hope for plentiful harvests. It’s one worth celebrating. And what better way to celebrate than with an EXTENSIVE DETAILS BULLETIN? (I’m joking, please go outside after reading this). I have so much to tell you. This is the first official bulletin from the Solar Institute, by the way. These may come every week or two weeks, depending on how I feel… Anyway. I have some major shit to announce so I gotta keep this moving. The album comes out August 20. It contains 12 songs and 2 bonus tracks."
On July 19, 2021, Lorde’s website updated once again and revealed that the second single, Stoned at the Nail Salon, would release two days later, on July 21, 2021.
The third single, Mood Ring, was released three days before the album’s release, on August 17, 2021.
On September 9, 2021, Lorde released Te Ao Mārama, an EP that acts as a companion piece to Solar Power, where she sings 5 of the songs in te reo Māori, an indigenous language of New Zealand.
Its deluxe version was released digitally on November 5, 2021, containing two new tracks that had already been included in the music box: Helen of Troy and Hold No Grudge.
The album performed middling compared to her previous albums. It debuted at #1 in her native New Zealand, #2 in the UK and #3 in the US, with 75,000 copies in its first week. The album also debuted on the charts in Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and other countries.
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