Because she's about to be a Very Big Deal. Meet Lorde .
Love Club album cover
Source: lorde.co.nz
Lorde + DOG
Source: listener.co.nz
Lorde, aka Ella Yelich O'Connor, is a 16-year-old from New Zealand whose debut EP, The Love Club, is about to be playing on loop on your headphones for the next week (month?) (year?). Her voice is incredible — something like a cross between Adele and Ellie Goulding, but with a roughed-up smart kid swagger that's completely foreign to both of them. And she writes her own songs (did I mention she's 16? Go cry yourself to sleep, Taylor Swift). And she's been dominating the pop charts in New Zealand for months. And she just sold out her first live shows in minutes. And she's totally chill about the whole thing.
Every song on the EP is worth listening to (a lot of times!) for different reasons. "Royals" is a swoopy, thumping takedown of rich-kid rappers' brand-dropping habit:
