Senior marketing manager at Virgin EMI, Alex Sayers, has told Music Week that she expects Lorde’s new album to confirm her status as one of the world’s leading songwriters.
Melodrama is released on June 16 via Virgin EMI.It is the follow-up to her 2013 debut Pure Heroine, which has sold 282,679 copies to date according to the Official Charts Company.
The album, which was co-written and produced by Lorde, Jack Antonoff and Frank Dukes, has already been trailed with the release of lead single Green Light – which signalled a move into much poppier territory – as well as Liability and Perfect Places.
“It definitely establishes her as one of the key songwriters of her generation,” Sayers said of Melodrama. “It’s a sophisticated pop album.
You can hear how she’s moved the dial forward in terms of her artistry, and herself personally in terms of what she’s offering her fans. This time you can hear the confidence in her. She wants to be the pop star
that she is.”
Sayers notes that the shift in sound away from her trademark minimalism exhibited on Green Light, combined with the relatively long gap between albums, has not given cause for any concerns as it relates to the potential success of Lorde’s comeback.
“The market has moved on – as it has done in the last six months, 12 months, four years – but on account of hearing Green Light and how dynamic it was, I wasn’t concerned,” said Sayers.
“When you come back with something very strong, you’ve got a story to tell, and there’s a reason for a long gap, it becomes irrelevant.”
“Melodrama is on a broader pop scale,” continued Sayers. “That’s what you can see from something as dynamic as Green Light being juxtaposed with Liability. I think it was a very brave move to put Liability out so far in front of the campaign, a song with no tempo in that sense, but that hits to the core of her talent.
She seems to have excited everyone across the globe across multiple territories. That’s not to be ignored.”
Following Melodrama’s release, and with an appearance at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Hull, and a Later… With
Jools Holland performance already in the bag, the next stage of the campaign will be to take the album out on the road.
“I think Glastonbury is going to be a moment for her,” said Sayers. “That comes straight off the week of the album release.”
Sayers also told Music Week that Lorde’s recently announced 15-date September/October European tour – which includes a date at London’s Alexandra Palace – will mark another evolution for the star.
“She’s moving herself forward from the minimalist set-up crafted for previous sold out shows,”
concluded Sayers.
“The production for this tour is bigger and bolder. Her assured confidence sees her comfortably positioning herself to own the biggest of stages.”
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