Choice Kiwi Cuts 2021: Lorde - 'Oceanic Feeling'

Lorde has always been a bit hit and miss for me. Mostly miss. Obviously, she’s hugely significant as a local artist simply because she hit it big internationally at a very young age and she’s now somehow managed to expand her fanbase well beyond its initial demographic. There’s no question that she’s talented and there’s something about her which suggests she’ll enjoy a relatively long career. Good for her. 

This year Lorde released her third full-length album, Solar Power, and although I couldn’t really have cared less about it, there was enough chatter around its release to arouse my curiosity, so I had a sneaky listen. My overall impression was that the album is very much her “summer of love” moment and a few tracks are quite derivative of the early 90s “baggy” period. 

Others will beg to differ, but I thought the vast majority of Solar Power was listenable but mostly unrelatable. Then I reached the album closer ‘Oceanic Feeling’ … what a relief. Relief partly because I’d reached the end of what was essentially an obligatory listen, but mostly relief because I’d finally found the unheralded album gem which made the previous hour’s effort all the more worthwhile. It was one of just a couple of tracks from Solar Power I downloaded and kept for playlist compilation purposes. 

‘Oceanic Feeling’ simply oozes “typical New Zealand summer family break” in ways I’ve never heard articulated in song before. The references to father, brother, fishing, food, and outdoor fun are clear and obvious, but more specifically, for me, the vibe of ‘Oceanic Feeling’ is all about my own sepia-tinged distant childhood memories of long hot carefree summer days at my Grandparents’ beach house or “bach” in Hawke’s Bay. Thank you for that, Lorde. 

(Choice Kiwi Cuts 2021 is a series of blogposts which seek to highlight the best tracks released by New Zealand artists over the course of the calendar year. Not necessarily the “best” in any commercial sense, but those which have proven to be the best additions to this blogger’s music collection)