Lorde, a 17 year old female from Devonport, New Zealand. Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O’Connor is her real name. Her first EP, The Love Club was released on November 22, 2012, and her first single, “Royals”, debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40, and also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013. Her album, Pure Heroine, was released on September 27, 2013.

She is an intriguing artist; straddling the lines of pop and the hip-hop-influenced R&B, yet mixed in the contemporary scene, Lorde creates a unique tempo. With lyrics critically thought and slathered with confidently exotic vocals, Lorde is the antithesis of pop schlock, making Pure Heroine an outstandingly odd, yet well done project.

Her album has a very different vibe from recent popular artists. Her lyrics are very mature for a young girl. Each track on ‘Pure Heroine’ contains its own semi-fantasy setting.

Her lyrics are also very society related. She states things like “Baby, the Internet raised us / Or maybe people are jerks” in “A World Alone”. Also, in 400 Lux Lorde tosses off a deeply evocative voice, with a powerful bass and percussion. “You drape your wrists over the steering wheel” in the same couplet as “We might be hollow, but we’re brave”

Lorde’s latest track release can be found on the Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack. She covered “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” the 1985 hit from Tears for Fears.

If ever there was an artist who popped up out of nowhere, yet had amazing success, it’s Lorde. Winning the 2013 Silver Scroll award for “Royals”, being in the Billboard Hot 100 for six straight weeks, and having her first shows in her home country of New Zealand sell out in 73 seconds. She is an old soul in a young body, and she has much more success to overcome.