9 Lorde songs that defined her alt-pop reign

It’s hard to believe Lorde was just a teenager when she rewrote the rules of pop. In a world dominated by glitter, autotune, and catchy choruses about champagne and clubs, Ella Yelich O’Connor walked in wearing black lipstick and mumbling about suburbia and loneliness and somehow made it all sound cool.

Lorde didn't just break into the mainstream, she carved her own lane dark, poetic, oddly danceable, and unmistakably hers. With just three albums, she’s left a mark on alt-pop that still lingers like the scent of a teenage heartbreak. Here’s a look at ten songs that didn’t just shape her career they defined her reign.

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The Alt-Pop Crown: Lorde’s Defining Tracks

Lorde didn’t follow pop trends she sidestepped them. While her peers belted out love songs and summer jams, she turned inward. She sang about growing pains, late-night thoughts, and the awkward magic of youth. Her music became the soundtrack for those who never felt quite like the main character, but didn’t mind being the narrator instead.

Each album showcased a new version of Lorde moody prodigy (Pure Heroine), theatrical mess (Melodrama), barefoot philosopher (Solar Power). And in each, she gave us songs that were more than hits they were moments. Let’s dive into the ten that defined her alt-pop legacy.

Royals

The song that started it all. With one finger wag at pop culture’s obsession with wealth, Lorde gave misfit teens a minimalist anthem and won a Grammy in the process.

Tennis Court

Deadpan delivery and existential dread never sounded so chic. “It’s a new art form, showing people how little we care” might just be Lorde’s entire vibe in one line.

Ribs

This one sneaks up on you. A song about the fear of growing older that feels like being 17, staring at the ceiling, wondering if everything will ever feel this intense again.

Green Light

A chaotic, emotional sprint disguised as a breakup bop. “Green Light” was Lorde unhinged and gloriously so. Who knew heartbreak could sound this euphoric?

Liability

A tearjerker without a trace of melodrama. Just Lorde, a piano, and the ache of feeling like too much for the people you love. Brutally honest and beautifully simple.

Perfect Places

Here, she’s chasing that night that never quite lives up to the promise. A party anthem for people who’d rather be thinking about life than living it.

The Louvre

Romance meets art exhibit in this dreamy, offbeat track. Lorde doesn’t just tell you she’s in love she curates it, hangs it up, and lets you stare.

Solar Power

With this breezy, sun-soaked tune, Lorde swapped gloom for glow. Critics were divided, but she made a point: pop stardom doesn’t have to burn you out.

Stoned at the Nail Salon

No bells, no whistles just existential musings over a soft strum. It’s the kind of song that makes you question your life choices in the most relaxing way possible.

Lorde may have ditched the dark lipstick and vanished between albums, but her influence hasn’t faded. In a genre often obsessed with perfection, she championed the messy, the moody, and the mundane. Her songs are confessions wrapped in synths, journals you can dance to, therapy sessions with bass drops.

Whether you grew up with "Pure Heroine", cried to "Melodrama", or sunbathed to "Solar Power", chances are Lorde has narrated a piece of your coming-of-age. And that’s what makes her the true queen of alt-pop crown, or no crown.