“There’s no better public weeping spot than a Lorde show,” the Kiwi artist born Ella Yelich-O’Connor told the crowd at Alexandra Palace last night. She had just finished an impassioned rant on the Roe v Wade ruling in the US, which means abortion will no longer be protected as a federal right in the country. “I’ve been feeling a little fragile and a little fucked up,” the singer said. “It’s weighing heavy on me.”
At the her last show at Ally Pally in 2017, Lorde conducted a hedonistic house party in support of the euphoric, thunderous pop of second album Melodrama. Since then, she’s released a third album, 2021’s Solar Power, which saw her slowing down, swapping synths and fame for acoustic guitars and throwing her phone in the sea. On the current tour behind the album, the intensity of the Melodrama shows is designed to give way to a calmer, more reflective spectacle.
