Move over George Michael, get out of here Kate Bush: Lorde has confirmed that her new song ‘Solar Power’ was inspired, in fact, by Primal Scream.
After four years away – and an almost cult-like expectation for her return – the New Zealand singer came back this week with ‘Solar Power’, the first single from her third album. It’s safe to say that the internet had a lot of thoughts. Memes were rife. The new sonic style provoked several comparisons to other songs, most notably George Michael’s hit ‘Freedom! ’90’ for its similar chorus, piano hook and chord progression
Lorde, however, took inspiration from Scottish rock band Primal Scream and their psychedelic song ‘Loaded’ from their seminal 1991 album Screamadelica. The song was famously produced by the late English producer Andrew Weatherall and remains one of the finest and most groundbreaking examples of dance and rock music fusion.
As per Variety, Lorde sat down with fellow Kiwi Zane Lowe on his Apple Music 1 show and revealed the Primal Scream connection, insisting that the band’s frontman Bobby Gillespie had given her his blessing.
“I had never heard Primal Scream in my life, I’d been told to check them out,” Lorde told Lowe. “I wrote the song on the piano and then we realized, it sounds a lot like ‘Loaded.’ It’s just one of those crazy things that like, they just were the spiritual forebears of the song.
I reached out to Bobby and he was so lovely about it — he was like, ‘These things happen, you caught a vibe that we caught years ago.’ And he gave us his blessing. So let the record state: ‘Loaded’ is 100% the original blueprint for this, but we arrived at it organically. And I’m glad we did.”
Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Gillespie is releasing his debut memoir via Third Man Records’ book imprint. Titled Tenement Kid, it will explore his upbringing in working-class Glasgow and the formative years of Primal Scream. It’s expected to be released later this year and can be pre-ordered here.
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Compare ‘Loaded’ and ‘Solar Power’ below:
