Solar Power (song)
The song peaked inside the top 20 in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and received gold certification from the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) and silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
After concluding the Melodrama World Tour in November 2018, Lorde retreated from the spotlight and began learning how to play the piano for her then upcoming record.
She wrote the track on a Yamaha DX keyboard and later brought the demo to American producer Jack Antonoff, who assisted in the writing and production of her previous record, for further development.
In an interview with New Zealand radio DJ Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, Lorde stated that she communicated with the band’s frontman, Scottish singer Bobby Gillespie, who cleared the song and told her, “These things happen, you caught a vibe that we caught years ago.”[3] Lorde was announced as the headliner for Primavera Sound 2022 in May 2021, with an announcement from the festival, stating that the singer would "emerge from her retirement with her third album".
[5] On 7 June 2021, Lorde updated her website with the artwork of the single with a message at the bottom of the page, stating: "Arriving in 2021... Patience is a virtue".
[6] On 10 June 2021, "Solar Power" was released erroneously on several streaming sites, including Apple Music, Tidal, and YouTube, for hours before being promptly removed.
[18] The three singers worked remotely;[4] Bridgers stated that one of her favourite moments of recording the track was being "so unconnected" to Lorde that "borders and being in the same town as someone just stopped mattering completely.
[20] The idea to feature other vocalists on "Solar Power" was influenced by the Laurel Canyon era where singers provided secret vocals to other artists.
[26] Writers for New Zealand magazine The Spinoff generally praised "Solar Power"; Toby Manhire called the song an "instant classic", and Stewart Sowman-Lund described it as "perfectly summery".
[27] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine stated that while the track lacked the "urgency of her best songs", its "breezy, psychedelic quality" perfectly pairs for "summer drives and beach trips, and an optimistic outlook".
[30] In a Billboard piece, Jason Lipshutz wrote that "Solar Power" was a "playful splash of salt water onto our faces in time for the summer", calling it "deceptively simple", noting the saxophone and trumpet in the mix, and asserted that Lorde "remains one of the best at filling the corners of her songs with personalized knickknacks".
[31] In a five star review, Rachel Brodsky of The Independent praised Lorde for "finding a new way to express a universal feeling", comparing it to the 1988 song "Kokomo" by American rock band the Beach Boys.
[32] Consequence named it "Song of the Week", describing it as "light, bouncy, and nonchalant", emphasising its departure from Lorde's previous works.
[40] The video begins with a close up shot of Lorde, laying in a beach blanket with Karen Walker sunglasses,[41] as the camera extends to reveal other beachgoers next to her.
Dressed in a yellow silk Collina Strada two-piece set,[42] Lorde stands up and walks through a wood canopy in the sand and points towards several beachgoers dancing.
[45] Shortly after releasing the song, Lorde was interviewed virtually for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert where she discussed the album associated with the track and its artwork.
[49] She also performed the song, along with four other tracks at Good Morning America in Central Park as part of their Summer Concert series in August 2021.
The stage was designed to emulate a beech, with a tan floor,[51] a sky backdrop,[51] while her band performed barefoot and the singer wore a bright yellow outfit.
[52] She also performed the track sitting on a set of stairs at Global Citizen Live, where she delivered an environmental speech before singing the song.
