'Pure Heroine'

Lest I be called a heretic, I’m pretty sure that Lorde is exactly the singer Lana Del Rey is pretending to be.

On Monday, the 16-year-old wonder girl from New Zealand released her debut album, “Pure Heroine.”

We’ve been teased for a while now with smash singles off the album such as “Tennis Court” and “Royals” by way of the EP she released in March of this year, “The Love Club.”

These two songs exemplify all that the album stands for: a brilliant, slow, hypersexual pop trip of ecstasy backed with a bottom-heavy synth track and a slow, pulsing beat.

Lorde herself has a mellow, seductive alto that lures listeners in with every breathy, heavily-echoed word. Paired with the simple, heavy backing music, it creates an incredibly and universally enjoyable experience.  

These songs that are sure to play on repeat on iPods all over and get a healthy dose of radio airplay.

Her music exemplifies the direction our generation is taking pop music and takes it up a notch in the same breath as Adele, then Florence, then Lana. It strips it back down to the basics, and lets the deep and slow vocals shine.

As an album, “Pure Heroine” works well. It has its magnificent shining moments, like the two major singles, along with “Team” and “A World Alone.” The songwriting and lyrics aren’t quite masterful, but the production quality is outstanding.

Where “Pure Heroine” falls is the same pitfall that inspirational albums have all fallen into before. The nature of the beast makes it incredibly easy to lull into monotony, which this album sadly does.

It’s not so much that it’s a turn-off, but it’s noticeable.

It has its slightly more upbeat tracks, but overall, it plays like the musical companion to “The Bling Ring.”   That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does harrow the album’s ability to really excite.

All in all, “Pure Heroine” makes me incredibly excited to see more of Lorde.

It’s really easy to imagine these songs performed in front of 50,000 people in Grant Park at Lollapalooza, and it’s a surefire bet that you’re going to be hearing a lot more about Lorde in the years to come.