‘Virgin' Review: Lorde's Resonant Personal Pop
In April, singer Ella Yelich-O'Connor, who performs as Lorde, announced her fourth album with a note indicating that it would be an intimate expression of who she is now, and that the process of making it was driven by 'trying to see myself, all the way through.' The New Zealander has been famous since 2013 when her single 'Royals' topped the Billboard Hot 100. She was just 16 years old then, which means that her entire adult life has been lived in the public eye, and she inspires intense parasocial devotion. The challenge for such an artist is to give the rabid fans the insider details they crave while tapping into broader truths for the listening public. The LP she teased this spring, 'Virgin' (Republic), out now, walks this narrow line.
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'And then now being executive producers, I feel like we were now involved in the casting decision and the wardrobe and some of the dance numbers, like how they're filmed and even like order of scene filming. "We really got to be involved even more so and so it was really an honor because we've been with this (franchise) for almost 10 years now and I think just being able to be behind the scenes like we always are talking about creative ideas, but to actually do them was just really cool. And it's a very unique position that is very rare. So I'm really grateful that we are one of the rarities in that sense.' A decade ago, Meg and Milo were just two hopefuls among a plethora of young performers hoping to get a shot at starring in a new Disney project. 'Our audition process was wild,' Donnelly recalled. "We had a lot of individual auditions where we just auditioned alone. And then we had chemistry reads where there was a bunch of boys going out for Zed, a bunch of girls going out for Addison, and we were all mix matching and reading the scenes, and even singing together. LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 25: Actors Meg Donnelly (L) and Milo Manheim attend a soundtrack ... More signing for Disney Channel's "Zombies" at Barnes & Noble at The Grove on February 25, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by) "And they just do that to find who has the best chemistry, what looks the best on screen. We weren't actually paired up with each other at first. But we were talking a lot, even though we should have been talking to the other people we were paired up with. And we ended up reading together and it kind of worked from there. And we did an impromptu duet to Love Is an Open Door (from Frozen)." 'We did, they wanted us to sing together. So we were like, give us like five minutes. And then we went outside and we figured out Love is an Open Door and then we went in there,' Manheim remembered. After the gauntlet of an audition for the first film, Meg and Milo have become household names for their young fans. They've also succeeding in inspiring upcoming generations of performers. So what advice do they have? 'I would say, I mean, it sounds kind of cliche, but just bear with me. Do the things that you love to do. I mean, this goes within our industry and outside of it,' Manheim said. 'I think it's very easy for us to try to do the things that we feel are expected of us. You know, like your family does this thing, so you should do that thing, too. I think really find what you love, what excites you and then you'll be a lot better at that thing because you'll be super interested in it. You're very passionate about it, so you take that extra step to learn a little bit about it. So I'd say just seriously follow your passion follow anything that excites you.' 'And stay in theater!' Donnelly added.
