'Solar Power': Lorde brings joy, introspective lyrics to Grand Ole Opry

The five-decade-old Grand Ole Opry House hosting Lorde on Sunday wasn't noteworthy because the 24-year-old New Zealand-residing singer-songwriter is not a country music artist.

Instead, the kickoff for the tour for "Solar Power," her third studio album, was the first concert Lorde played in the United States in three years.

Ten years after her surprise breakout Billboard smash "Royals," the performer has evolved into an even greater observer of an increasingly dystopian universe.

To that end, "Royals" was the concert's encore.

A decade later, the track's sing-song reflectiveness lent itself well to a sing-a-long at the end of a 90-minute set that saw the introverted pop star bear connect with a sea of nearly 5,000 hand-waving fans.

For the entire night, fans watched from their feet.

Staccato drum kicks over ambient basslines offered a balancing gravitas to lyrics like those found in the 2017 single "Homemade Dynamite's" chorus of "Our rules, our dreams, we're blind /Blowing s**t up with homemade d-d-d-dynamite." The 10-year old tropical bass anthem "Buzzcut Season" aided in the magical achievement of evolving a song about giving your friend a summer haircut into a euphoric treatise on the frightening onset of maturity and adulthood.

Digging even deeper into the set, it bears mentioning that Lorde's "Solar Power" album producer, Jack Antonoff, has achieved something similar with her as he has with Lana Del Ray. His introduction of funk breaks and grooves to Lorde's catalog has unlocked colors and emotions in her voice that denote new wisdom.

In a live setting, tracks like "California" and "Mood Ring" offer the swagger of newfound confidence and the bitter sweetness of the innocence sacrificed in emotional growth. Notably, Lorde's maturation is heard in "Mood Ring," which is crisp on the bottom end, with a melody that meshes well with the bassline. In addition, Lorde's top-line vocal has depth and scope enough to swoop and soar. In total, the song is note-perfect melancholy, offering something similar to Natalie Imbruglia's 25-year old pop classic "Torn."

The evening was presented with a level of cozy comfort apparent in everything from the staging to costuming of the event. An album entitled "Solar Power" deserved to be played against not the traditional barn-door backdrop of the Grand Ole Opry. Instead, a beige sheet covered the back of the stage, and a sun was cast upon it (which often was also cast — via lighting effects — as a solar eclipse).

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In front, the stage was comprised of two sparsely decorated beige risers with a rotating circle in the middle upon. An illuminated staircase was made to look like an obelisk resting against a large white kick-drum cabinet.

Lorde's five-piece band was clad in mustard yellow suits that offered homage to oversized 80s suits familiar to David Byrne's Talking Heads era. As for the vocalist herself, she had three outfit changes that highlighted just how comfortable she has become with her art.

She opened the proceedings wearing a baggy neon green suit. Then she changed into a backless, neon yellow jersey dress. Finally, she ended the evening wearing a sparkling gold gown with a unique, double-bustle design.

The performer's desire to be comfortable — above all else — in this album cycle is crucial.

Ultimately, Lorde's not looking this way while playing these songs as a cool way to highlight fashion. Instead, the intimacy of her creative process demands contentment. Singing raw, honest lyrics like the ballad "Dominoes" ("It's strange to see you smoking marijuana / You used to do the most cocaine of anyone I'd ever met" is) — no matter how endearing the song is — a daunting task.

The New Zealand-based artist called her fans "friends from overseas," to whom she didn't always have to talk, but they "were always close." Live performers often make comments like this as throwaway stage banter. However, having the wisdom to know that you're not bantering, but saying something to fans that doubles as your truth — and how to protect your psyche when telling thousands of people intimate truths hundreds of times a year — is important.

"Music summons feelings that need to be released," said Lorde during a pause in her set.

Since 2013, she's evolved from being a seemingly inevitable one-hit-wonder to developing the ability to transpose complex personal thoughts into easily understood reflections. Hearing a room of twenty-something women screaming that they're analogous to overbearing, poisonous forest fires (2017-released "Melodrama" album single "Liability") turns a power ballad into a dynamic weapon of mass jubilation.

Before launching into the 2021 single "Stoned At The Nail Salon," Lorde paused and noted how much she loved playing in Nashville.

The crowd cheered.

"Let's get ready to cry," the star continued.

In a moment ripe with excitement and catharsis, the crowd joined her in singing, "Got a wishbone dryin' on the windowsill in my kitchen / Just in case I wake up and realize I've chosen wrong."

A decade later, Lorde is better than ever at making hell sound downright heavenly.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lorde Nashville show review: Singer bears soul, shows off growth