{"id":72,"date":"2021-06-30T15:46:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T22:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/?p=72"},"modified":"2022-03-04T14:06:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T22:06:01","slug":"lorde-what-makes-her-a-pop-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/lorde-what-makes-her-a-pop-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Lorde &#8211; What Makes Her A Pop Star?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"surprise-it-s-her-voice\"><strong>Surprise, it&#8217;s her voice!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Lorde is one of a kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Breaking onto the global music scene at just 16, she immediately cemented herself as a true artist. Her voice is instantly recognizable and the best word we can use to describe it is <em>intriguing<\/em>! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it would be all too easy to hear her and think, <em>&#8220;I could never do that!&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that&#8217;s what this lesson is all about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today we&#8217;ll take a look at 3 or Lorde&#8217;s biggest hits, and unpack the exact techniques she uses to create such incredible performances. And we&#8217;ll start at the beginning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"royals\"><strong>&#8220;Royals&#8221;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lorde - Royals (US Version)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nlcIKh6sBtc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Royals&#8221; speaks of the disconnect between the experience of everyday life and what was portrayed in pop songs and music videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vocally, what stands out the most are the layered harmonies, which were pretty unique at the time (2013). They&#8217;ve definitely become a key feature of Lorde&#8217;s style though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of technique, she uses quite a bit of &#8220;vocal fry&#8221;, which is where you hear a slight cracking in the voice. It&#8217;s intentional and adds a slight percussive element to the phrase. It&#8217;s more dramatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vocal fry can be practiced anywhere, but it&#8217;s more noticeable with a microphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lorde also adds a little bit of vibrato at the end of several phrases. Both techniques you can add to your repertoire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"green-light\"><strong>&#8220;Green Light&#8221;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lorde - Green Light\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dMK_npDG12Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Green Light&#8221; is the next hit we&#8217;ll look at, and the first thing that stands out it how intensely connected Lorde&#8217;s voice is to the lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are angry lyrics, and she sounds angry as she sings them. This is SO important, as it goes a long way towards creating a compelling and &#8220;truthful&#8221; performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The words matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of technique, Lorde uses a type of &#8220;talk-singing&#8221; to create that emotion. Especially with the words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;You&#8217;re such a damn liar.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another technique that really stands out is her use of breath. Lorde is NOT allowing a lot of air out, and that allows for the vocal fry we mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later in the song, she matches her voice with an octave higher harmony (an octave is the same note but higher up the register). She also uses super-rhymic vocals. It&#8217;s so unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you&#8217;re singing, you can take artistic liberties with how you deliver the phrases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go for it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"solar-power\"><strong>&#8220;Solar Power&#8221;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lorde - Solar Power\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wvsP_lzh2-8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Solar Power&#8221; is the last song we&#8217;ll look at. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What we love about this piece is that it ties in everything we&#8217;ve already covered. Straight away we see the broken rhymic phrasing, complete with vocal fry. And do you notice the harmony?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s an octave higher again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lorde also uses her &#8220;talk-singing&#8221; style to create something unique and not commonly heard in popular music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"so-what-does-this-mean-for-you\"><strong>So what does this mean for you?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Lorde is unique. And the goal for any singer is not to sound like someone else, but to reveal your true voice. So while you shouldn&#8217;t try to sound &#8220;like&#8221; Lorde, you can learn from her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a close listen to what we&#8217;ve highlighted today, and try to practice them for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Put a bit of vocal fry in a song&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe even try &#8220;talk-singing&#8221;, and experiment with rhythms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As always, happy singing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Surprise, it&#8217;s her voice! Lorde is one of a kind. Breaking onto the global music scene at just 16, she immediately cemented herself as a true artist. Her voice is instantly recognizable and the best word we can use to describe it is intriguing! But it would be all too easy to hear her and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":36,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298,"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72\/revisions\/298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singeo.com\/chorus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}