Pure Heroine
Pure Heroine is the debut studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde. It was released on 27 September 2013 by Universal, Lava, and Republic Records. After several unsuccessful sessions with songwriters, Lorde was paired with Joel Little by A&R representative Scott Maclachlan, who assisted with the album's production. Recording took place at Golden Age Studios in Auckland. Pure Heroine has been described as an electronica, electropop, and dream pop album with minimalist production, deep bass and programmed beats.
Pure Heroine
Pure Heroine received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised its songwriting, production, and Lorde's vocal performance. It appeared on several year-end critics' lists, and was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. The album deals with themes of youth and critiques mainstream culture, exploring materialism, fame, consumer culture and social status. Pure Heroine has been noted for its influence on modern pop music.
Lorde released the album's lead single, "Royals", to critical and commercial success; it was followed by "Tennis Court", "Team" and "Glory and Gore". The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 129,000 album-equivalent units, and topped the charts in Australia and New Zealand. Pure Heroine was one of 2014's best-selling albums. It was certified platinum in the United Kingdom, double platinum in Canada, triple platinum in Australia, as well as quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, selling more than 5 million copies worldwide.[1]
Background and development[edit]
Since she was 14 years old, Lorde worked with Universal to develop her sound and artistic vision. She was signed to Universal by her manager, Scott Maclachlan, at age 13 and was paired with a succession of songwriters in unsuccessful attempts to develop her own music.[2] Maclachlan told HitQuarters, "Fundamentally I think she understood that she was going to write her own music but would need someone to help with the production side of it."[2] Lorde began writing songs on guitar at the age of "13 or 14".[3] She was eventually paired with New Zealand writer and producer Joel Little in December 2011, and their working relationship clicked almost immediately.[2] Lorde's debut extended play (2013's The Love Club EP) was praised by music critics, who compared the EP to work by other female alternative pop artists such as Sky Ferreira, Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey, and Grimes.[4] It reached number one in New Zealand, number two in Australia, where it was certified five times platinum for shipments of 350,000 copies,[5] and number twenty-three on the US Billboard 200.[6]
Before beginning work on Pure Heroine, Lorde said that she intended her debut album to be a "cohesive" work.[3] Like The Love Club EP, Pure Heroine was recorded with producer Joel Little at Golden Age Studios, a small studio without expensive technology, in Auckland,[7] and was completed in less than a year.[8] Initially, Lorde and Little played demos to A&R Scott Maclachlan in which they discussed songs, exchanged comments and changed aspects of the songs.[8] She later showed the lyrics to James Lowe, her boyfriend at the time, saying that sharing things with him inspired her to write most of the album.[9] Recording of the album was overseen by Lorde and Little, and was described by Maclachlan as a fairly-short process; most of what Lorde played for him ended up on the album.[8] Lorde wanted to write her own music, and the album's content was co-written with Little.[10] Ten songs were included in the album's final track listing, with seven or eight tracks not making the cut.[8] Lorde and Maclachlan decided to keep the final track listing at ten to avoid "filler material."[8]
Commercial performance[edit]
The album debuted atop the Official New Zealand Chart, and was certified platinum in its first week;[129] it remained at number one for the following two weeks.[130] After eleven weeks on the chart, Pure Heroine rebounded to number two and was certified triple platinum.[131] At week eighteen, it rose from number three to number one and was certified quadruple platinum.[132] The album also debuted at number one on Australia's ARIA Chart.[133] It then fell to number two, but was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[134] The album was ninth on ARIA's 10 Albums of 2013, with sales of about 100,000 copies.[135]
Pure Heroine entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number two, with first-week sales of 15,000 copies, and was later certified platinum by Music Canada (MC) for shipments of 80,000 copies.[136][137] The album sold 18,294 copies in its debut at number four on the Official Charts Company's UK Albums Chart, where it was later certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 100,000 copies.[138]
It debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 129,000 copies.[139] In its second week on the chart the album fell to number six, with a 51-percent drop in sales to 63,000 copies.[140] Pure Heroine fell to number seven in its third week, selling 48,000 copies, but rose to number five the following week and sold 40,000 copies.[141] According to Nielsen Soundscan, the album sold 413,000 copies by 3 December 2013; by 19 December, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of 541,000 copies.[142] Pure Heroine had a 14-percent US sales increase during the holiday season, selling 78,000 copies and moving from number eleven to number seven on the Billboard 200.[143] On 9 January 2014, the album rose from seventh to fifth on the chart and sold a further 46,000 copies; it held its position the following week, selling 33,000 copies.[144] In July 2014, Billboard released a mid-year chart; Pure Heroine was number four, selling 641,000 copies in the first half of the year.[145] It was the sixth-bestselling album of 2014, selling 841,000 copies and 6.8 million tracks.[146]
Pure Heroine had an 86-percent increase in sales after Lorde's performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, rising from number five back to number three on the Billboard 200 and selling 68,000 copies.[147] After slipping to number eight for the week ending 19 February, Pure Heroine rose to number seven with 39,000 copies sold (a nine-percent increase).[148] It rose to number six the following week, selling 30,000 copies and passing the one-million mark with 1.01 million copies sold.[149] Pure Heroine was the first debut album to reach the one-million mark since October 2013; Lorde was the first woman whose debut album sold a million copies since April 2011 and Adele's 19.[149] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the album sold 1.4 million copies in 2013 and two million copies in 2014,[150] with 3.4 million combined copies for both years.[151]
All tracks written by Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little, and produced by Little, except where noted.
Notes
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pure Heroine.[203]