Lorde reborn
Lorde's fourth studio album Virgin is a rebirth for a generational artist still in her 20s. Ella Yelich-O'Connor became a household name as a teenager after her debut album Pure Heroine delivered a new minimalist art-pop sound with hip hop production and a persona of magnetic self-assurance. The albums that followed represented two very different coming of age moments – 2017's Melodrama and 2021's Solar Power – for a young artist confronted with fame. Now, after over a decade in the public eye, Virgin walks the tightrope between experimentation and hitmaking pop, metaphorical obscurity and confessional sincerity. Ella joins Andy via zoom.
Composer Christine Pan's new song cycle The Parts We Give has already had multiple lives. It's being performed live this weekend with two singers (Megan Kim and Wesley Yu) who perform the roles of Jiejie and Didi ('sister' and 'brother'). But it's also a DIY video game. Producer Ce talks to Christine about how operatic vocals, glitchy hyperpop, and 8-bit gameplay can tell the story of love in a Chinese-Australian home.
The Parts We Give is at ESCAC by Brand X in Sydney, 27-28 June
You can play the game via Fable Arts here
Music heard in the show:
Title: Royals
Artist: Lorde
Composer: Ella Yelich O'Connor, Joel Little
Album: Pure Heroine
Label: Sony
Title: Man of the Year, Shapeshifter, Clearblue, Hammer
Artist: Lorde
Composer: Ella Yelich O'Connor, James Harmon Stack
Album: Virgin
Label: Universal
Title: Ribs
Artist: Lorde
Composer: Ella Yelich O'Connor, Joel Little
Album: Pure Heroine
Label: Sony
Title: Barangaroo Baby, Jiejie (extracts from The Parts We Give)
Artist: Megan Kim, Wesley Yu
Composer: Christine Pan
Development recording courtesy of the composer
Title: Carpet
Artist: Brian Campeau
Composer: Brian Campeau
Album: Brian Campeau Presents Jo Dellin and the Bone Spurs
Label: Art As Catharsis
The Music Show is made on Gadigal, Gundungurra, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Yuggera and Turrbal land
Technical production by Dylan Prins, Brendan O'Neill, and Roi Huberman
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