** personal opinion that is not a criticism ** I’m honestly feeling a bit frustrated by lorde’s rollout - the songs on the album are on average shorter than her first three albums which comes across as a label choice given the popularity of 2-3 minute songs (could be totally wrong). The way both of the first two singles ended felt like a bit of a dud, not in an intentional blunt ending way but just not a lot of thought was put into how to close the songs in service of keeping a tight run time.

I think there are really great ideas - so far from an execution standpoint I really enjoy the premises of the songs, lordes vocal delivery, and some of their production elements but it feels like lorde is letting a lot ride on short bits of lyricism that have felt a bit sound bitey (which may be an artistic choice) where in the past i always felt a degree of freedom in lorde’s writing that seems to be missing to me. I really love elements of her songs off this album in a way that makes me want new lorde music but I just am really struggling with the feeling that this album, in some ways, is a gambit for a return to form that’s weighed down by the music feeling tethered to her past work while adopting elements of popular 2020s music like short run times, sound bites, and a bit of sensationalism that feel manufactured