Lorde lightens up; Mcmurtry shares wisdom
Lorde, “Solar Power” (Republic): “’Cause all the music you loved at 16, you’ll grow out of,” Lorde sings wistfully on “Stoned at the Nail Salon” from her third album, “Solar Power.” The claim is slightly disingenuous, however: Lorde was 16 when “Royals” became a megahit in 2012, and that’s not a song to grow out of.
On her first two albums, 2013’s “Pure Heroine” and 2017’s “Melodrama,” Lorde wrote sharply observant songs about teen anxiety and heartbreak, and celebrity culture. Now 24, she doesn’t want to be a spokesperson for youthful angst. “You need someone to take your pain for you? Well, that’s not me,” she declares in “The Path.”
“Solar Power” has a sunnier disposition than her earlier releases. She finds escape and solace in warm days at the beach on the title track (which is indebted to both Primal Scream’s “Loaded” and George Michael’s “Freedom ’90”). She looks at New Age wellness culture with a wink in “Mood Ring” and tells her younger self to “do your best to trust the rays of light” on “Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen It All).”
Again working with the ubiquitous producer Jack Antonoff, Lorde brightens her minimalist arrangements. Several tracks feature a backing chorus that includes Clairo and Phoebe Bridgers. Robyn provides a humorous voice-over cameo.
“Solar Power” is light, and a bit lightweight, and it’s easy to enjoy.
Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer
James Mcmurtry, “The Horses and the Hounds” (New West Records): In recent months, James Mcmurtry test-drove some of this material during twice-a-week livestream performances from his home near Austin, occasionally interrupted by digital gremlins or a barking dog.
“The Horses and the Hounds” is Mcmurtry’s first album in six years, and the time taken to develop the new songs shows. These 10 tunes have been woodshedded until they sound both broken in and built to last, which makes it standard stuff from one of music’s best storytellers.
The set rocks, thanks partly to stellar electric guitar by David Grissom. He first worked with Mcmurtry more than 30 years ago, as did producer Ross Hogarth, who oversees handsome, varied arrangements that also feature cello, keyboards and accordion.
Mcmurtry assumes the voice of quirky characters who share wisdom won and explain their scars while contemplating annoyances great and small.
“Twitter’s on fire, my stocks all tanked, but what’s really getting to me is I keep losing my glasses,” Mcmurtry complains on “Ft. Walton Wake-up Call,” an especially droll tune that could be mistaken for Florida Panhandle hip-hop.
Elsewhere Mcmurtry’s late middle-age blues lament bad decisions, militarism, lives too short, road tolls and time the revelator. He bites off the words, even when he invites a smile.
“In a way-back corner of a crosstown bus, we were hiding out under my hat, cashing in on a 30-year crush,” he sings. “You can’t be young and do that.”
That’s a lyric built to last.
Song of the moment Courtney Barnett, “Before You Gotta Go” (Mom+pop):
The latest single from the Aussie indie rocker’s upcoming album flashes more of the delightful, matter-of-fact lyricism she’s known for. Over a jangly guitar, she sings to her lover about the
often trivial minutiae of day-to-day relationships with a tongue-in-cheek suggestion: “Don’t you know I’m not your enemy, maybe let’s cut out caffeine.”
Co-produced with Warpaint’s Stella Mozgowa, “Before You Gotta Go” builds into a comfortably propelling tune that’s as ear-catching as it is relatable.
Barnett’s upcoming album is called “Things Take Time, Take Time,” and it’s scheduled for a Nov. 12 release.