Lorde Have Mercy: Pure Heroine Turns 10
It is with zero exaggeration that I say Lorde’s debut album, Pure Heroine, dramatically expanded the bounds of the alternative and pop landscape.
Ten years ago, the majority of charting pop music was upbeat dance/rap tracks — with Macklemore’s Thrift Shop, Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines all cracking the Billboard Top 20 — until the smash hit single “Royals” hit the airwaves, completely against the grain musically and lyrically…and earning the 15th spot in the 2013 Year End Hot 100 list.
“Royals” lyrically pokes fun at 21st-century celebrity culture, juxtaposed with the average person’s lifestyle: How nearly every song on the radio boasts luxury, top-shelf alcohol, sex, and glamor in excess, and how media treats its celebrity subjects almost like modern royalty, while the majority of consumers don’t and won’t have the kind of money needed to partake in such a lifestyle…and how everyday life isn’t any less because of that fact.
Musically, the track is minimalist, drawing inspiration from art pop with elements of R&B and modern alternative — a smart production choice that spotlighted Lorde’s smooth and unmistakable contralto.
“Royals” ended up skyrocketing to Number 1 on Billboard while essentially serving as a critique for all the songs below it — with the exception of Thrift Shop, an anomaly rap song that I credit to this day for the rise of thrifting/secondhand culture in Gen Z — and, ironically, launched Lorde (real name Ella Yelich-O’Connor) into the pop aristocracy at just 16.
LISTEN TO “ROYALS” HERE:
But Royals is just the beginning of the alt-pop masterpiece, no-skip album, Pure Heroine.
“Tennis Court,” the prophetic opening track on the album, is all about Lorde’s rise to pop superstardom, navigating the trials of newfound fame and the love/hate relationship with the industry as a teenager, quite mature content for a debut album. She described the tennis court image as a symbol of nostalgia for youth and her hometown of Auckland, NZ, but it could also be interpreted as a symbol of newfound wealth, as tennis is often portrayed in literature & media as a sport of the elite, (e.g., Wimbledon seats being filled with a flock of celebrities.)
I also credit “Tennis Court” with the rise in purchases of the American Apparel tennis skirts and baby tees that created the certifiable ‘soft grunge’ Tumblr aesthetic that still defines and inspires my taste in fashion to this day….but this could just be me!!
The true standout for me (amongst many others) is “Ribs,” a hauntingly beautiful picture of youthful ennui that ages better every year I listen. Lorde said the track was written about a “big party I [sic] had when my parents went away” and her anxiety about aging.
The track’s production, courtesy of Joel Little, is what truly solidifies “Ribs’” status above the rest: Its ambiance and increasing tempo heighten the listeners’ awareness, calling them to reflect on their own life and perhaps even mortality just as Lorde is with each verse. The synth intertwines with Lorde’s layered vocals, swelling and producing the sound that fills the room with bittersweet nostalgia.
The song has gained a near cult-like following in its own right, with Twitter (X) posts using “Ribs” as a verb and collectively sharing teen/twenties/lifetime angst and relation to its message, even ten years later.
LISTEN TO “RIBS” HERE:
Pure Heroine received critical acclaim for pushing the boundaries of contemporary pop, spurring four-star album ratings from Rolling Stone, Q, and The Guardian, and praise from musicians from Dave Grohl to David Bowie, who called her “revolutionary” and “the future of music” respectively.
Pure Heroine also deeply affected my life in a positive way, acting as a lifeline when I was navigating my teenage years. I was blessed enough to see her perform live in Buffalo, NY, on the American leg of the Pure Heroine tour, not even a year after the album’s release, where she graced the audience with her ethereal vocals and lovably quirky stage presence. The songs feel just as fresh now as they did then, and my love for the record has only increased over the years.
Five years after Pure Heroine’s debut, I entered my first year of college, where after a series of unfortunate events, including a bitter breakup, a newfound tenuous relationship with alcohol, and isolation from people at school, I slowly began to feel chewed up and spit out. On many cold nights and long subway rides alone when I felt like I was a mere whisper in a wind tunnel— “Ribs” was the cathartic hug I needed.
So ten years later, now what?
Pure Heroine has made numerous decade-end and all-time lists, with The Mercury News ranking Pure Heroine as the Best Album of the 2010s, Insider ranking it at number 11 on their 15 Best Albums of the 2010s list, snagging the Billboard’s 23 slot in its critics’ picks of the 100 Best Albums of the 2010s and Rolling Stone ranking it as the 100th best debut album of all time.
Personally, Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die (2012) and Lorde’s Pure Heroine (2013) are two of the most influential alt-pop albums of the 2010s, redefining the potential of both genres’ soundscapes, lyrics, and aesthetics and paving the way for the rise of moody, cinematic alt-pop that defined much of the later 2010s into the 2020s.
A slew of current artists have credited Lorde for their careers in pop and alternative, including Conan Gray (Kid Krow), Billie Eilish (WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, Happier Than Ever), and Olivia Rodrigo (Sour, GUTS). Gray credited Lorde for spurring his “obsession with pop music,” with Rodrigo citing her for influencing her smash debut single “driver’s license.”
Lorde crafted a reflective email message as part of her newsletter to mark the 10th year anniversary of PH, expressing gratitude for a multitude of people and things in her life, including:
“…weed, planes, Tumblr … Birth control, Joel [Little], Jai Paul, Grimes, Lana [Del Rey], Frank [Ocean], Kanye [West], [David] Bowie … My sister’s Macbook Pro, my city, my family, and every single person who ever pressed play, sent me a message or came to a show. You’re the only friend I need.”
Lorde also wrote how Pure Heroine’s concept came to fruition, helped in part by her introduction to marijuana, which gave her “a deeper understanding of sensory pleasure”:
“I’d go on long walks around the neighbourhood, and began to mythologise the stuff around me (big empty floodlit rugby fields/bus rides/dark/streets/boredom/isolation) into the motifs that would become Pure Heroine.”
The singer described crafting the album with producer and friend Joel Little as her realization that she wanted to be a musician, stating that it was a “strong feeling…like falling in love.”
To close her reflection, Lorde left her fans a message of support and encouragement, inspiring them to delve into their passions/creative endeavors:
“Pure Heroine exists because I had the tiniest inkling of what I’ve now come to see as one of my guiding principles: that each of us have a handful of songs inside us that are ours, and only ours, to sing,” the singer wrote.
“Your specific interests and upbringing and physiology and experiences exist only in you; you are sitting on a gold mine that no one can rob. Whatever that means to you, whatever that statement you were born to make is, I invite you to take a big breath and make it.”
LISTEN TO PURE HEROINE HERE:
Writer’s note: Thank you to all the writers, editors, and readers of The Riff for inviting me into this community and encouraging me every day to tell my stories. I’m grateful to each and every one of you.
