A short while ago, who would have picked it? A North Shore schoolgirl would come from nowhere and storm the US charts, getting into media-fuelled slanging matches with some of the world's biggest pop stars and have the talent to back up her big talk.
Lorde's much-awaited Pure Heroine does live up to the hype. It's smart, funky, simple, elegant and extremely listenable.
We'd already been treated to some of its best stuff. Royals was on the Love Club EP, Tennis Court and Team followed - the latter leaked ahead of album release - and a live video of Ribs (with the Kanye West addendum) went viral after her Auckland concert.
Attitude and marketing have played a big part in Lorde's success but, along with a sound not unlike Lana del Rey meets The xx, she really is a great lyricist and singer, tapping into that demographic she knows so well to explore what it is to exist in a regular teen's world.
Lorde
Pure Heroine
Rating: 4.5 / 5
