Lorde is celebrating the success of her third studio album, Solar Power, but revealed in a new interview that she fought for her creative vision — especially when it came to not releasing the album on CD.
Speaking with Variety, the New Zealand singer noted of a “double standard” women face in the music industry.
“I’m trying to think of how to phrase this. There are specific archetypes that people want you to oscillate between,” Lorde, 24, explained. “I’m sure there’s a double standard. I almost don’t think of myself as a female artist sometimes, just because I’m less an object of desire…I don’t feel bound to the systems of our industry the way a lot of women do, which is a really privileged spot to be in.”
The singer continued, “It’s a game and if you know the rules, you also know how to break them.”
As for how Lorde combatted pushback on her creative choices, considering how different Solar Power sounded compared to her previous two albums, the singer said, “People have listened to me when I’ve said, ‘This is not something I would ever do.’ … Being bold is vital because people are only going to listen to you if you speak up.”
The “Royals” singer stressed that the industry needs to treat women equally, adding, “Women need to be valued for not just the emotional nuance they bring to songwriting, but also technical skills.”
That brought her to her final point, that she was only able to fulfill her creative vision for Solar Power because of the sacrifices of the artists who came before her.
“Whether it’s someone like Britney [Spears], who we’ve all seen go through this terrible thing, or Fiona Apple, there’s always someone who came before you taking it on the chin,” she remarked.
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