Free Lorde
Lorde made the news a few days ago when she announced that she was now a free agent. Which, in musical terms, translates to being independent from any record label. As it happens, the singer had been signed since the age of 12 (!) with Universal Music, the biggest label on the planet. And, it seems, felt like it was time for a change…
Signing away your rights
In a series of posts, Lorde contextualized the reasoning behind her decision, and it does make quite a lot of sense: effectively signing away the rights to your creative output before you even know what they are does seem odd. Creatively speaking: there is a sense, working with a label, that you are being coached, especially at a young age. On the one end, it can provide comfort: you are not alone in this. On the other, you might feel somewhat constrained in the process. Depending on the terms of your deal, the label may have a significant say in what is being decided for you. Especially if you happen to be 12.
What Lorde is implicitly saying here, without ever criticizing anyone — she’s actually quite nice about her now former label — is that such constraints at such a young age felt like a hindrance. That she’d rather break away from. Her contract ending provided a natural opportunity for her to do just that…
Clean slate
The other thing the artist mentioned, which is perhaps more surprising at first, is that she wanted to become professionally independent not to sell anything. Being signed to a label meant that they regularly came up with projects, releases, events… that she would have to be involved in, at the very least to give her ‘OK’ on. And it seems that relentless activity, or perhaps its unpredictable nature (she did not call these shots), felt like a growing weight.
In essence, what Lorde is saying is that she wants to take a professional break. The reason it is not that surprising if you take a step back is that she has long been a vocal proponent of the mental health argument: the idea of prioritizing yourself and your well-being over your career seems key to her, as with many young artists. Think of Lola Young recently taking a break after feeling she was taking a personal risk. Not to mention Lorde has been at it for so long: in professional terms, she already reached middle age…
So there you have it: Lorde is taking time for herself. For now: given how distinct and creative she is, I wouldn’t be surprised if she made herself heard again in the not too distant future. She welcomed that option, actually stating that she might very well sign with a label again — perhaps even the same one. As it stands, her impact on music is such — hello Billie Eilish — that it would be surprising if she decided to end it here, at the actual young age of 29. Unless she wants to do acting. Or ballet. Despite what Timothée says.