The Love Club EP

## Singles

1. "Royals"
Released: June 3, 2013

"The Love Club" is the debut EP from Lorde. It was self-released by Lorde on her SoundCloud account in November 21, 2012. It was officially released on March 8, 2013.

An indie rock-influenced electronica album, *The Love Club EP* was well received by music critics, who praised its production and compared its style to works by Sky Ferreira, Florence and the Machine and Lana Del Rey. The release peaked at number two in New Zealand and Australia and was certified platinum and septuple platinum in those two countries respectively. In the US, the record charted at number twenty-three on the *Billboard* 200 chart and have sold 60,000 copies as of August 2013. To promote *The Love Club EP*, Lorde performed during various concerts, and "Royals" was released as a single.

## Background

Lorde was discovered by A&R representative Scott MacLachlan of Universal Music Group (UMG) at the age of 12, when MacLachlan saw footage of Lorde performing at a school talent show in Auckland, New Zealand. At the age of 13, Lorde started writing songs herself. MacLachlan unsuccessfully tried to set up Lorde with several songwriters and producers to help her with production. Ultimately, he paired Lorde with Joel Little in December 2011, when she had just turned 15. Little was impressed by Lorde's vocal performance and songwriting abilities, and he built songs with musical structures based on Lorde's lyrics.

The pair recorded songs at Little's Golden Age Studios in Morningside, Auckland. Lorde took inspiration from hip-hop-influenced music artists, such as Lana Del Rey, during the writing process. Within a week, Lorde had finished recording the tracks "Royals", "Bravado" and "Biting Down" during a school break. The pair also recorded two other songs for the EP: "Million Dollar Bills" and "The Love Club". Lorde wrote the lyrics, while Little composed the melodies and played all the instruments, including drums, guitars, and synthesizers. In total, the pair took three weeks to finish *The Love Club EP*.

### Composition

*The Love Club EP* consists of five songs, written by Lorde (credited to her birth-name Ella Yelich-O'Connor) and Little. *The Nelson Mail*'s Nick Ward described the EP as "indie-flavoured electronica" and detailed Lorde's voice as "smoky". Meanwhile, Chris Schulz from *The New Zealand Herald* said Lorde's voice "seems to come from someone twice her age".[9] Critics compared the EP's musical style to works by Sky Ferreira, Florence and the Machine and Lana Del Rey.

*The Love Club EP* opens with the chamber pop song "Bravado". Inspired by Kanye West's song "Dark Fantasy", "Royals" and "Million Dollar Bills" are two tracks that criticise the glamorous lifestyle of the rich; the former combines subgenres of pop, including art pop and electropop, and also incorporates R&B, while the latter is a hybrid of pop and alternative rock with hip-hop influences. The title track of the EP, "The Love Club", discusses the befriending of "a bad crowd". *The Love Club EP* concludes with the trip-hop-influenced drum and bass number "Biting Down", featuring "futuristic war drum thump". For the US iTunes Store September 2013 edition of *The Love Club EP*, "Royals" was replaced by "Swingin Party", a cover version of The Replacements' song.

## Reception

### Critical reception

An editor of AllMusic called the album "evocative" and praised its "sultry, sinewy" sound. Writing for *The New Zealand Herald*, Chris Schulz labeled the EP "the start of something very special" and applauded Lorde's vocals. Nick Ward from *The Nelson Mail* praised the extended play's lyrical content and characterized Lorde as "definitely one to watch".

On behalf of *Manawatu Standard*, a reviewer complimented on the EP's production, songwriting and "the right edge to appeal to a mainstream audience", saying the EP was "[what] a good pop debut should be". In a review of *The Love Club EP* for *The Dominion Post*, Tom Cardy deemed the songs on the record as "sharp, refreshing and smart". Additionally, he viewed the EP as the best album he had heard by a New Zealand artist that year and lauded Lorde's lyrics and performance as "simply incredible".

At the 2013 New Zealand Music Awards, Lorde won Breakthrough Artist of the Year for the EP and Single of the Year for "Royals". With "Royals", Lorde and Joel Little won the APRA Silver Scroll award in 2013. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards (2014), "Royals" was nominated for Record of the Year, and won Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. The song won Top Rock Song at the 2014 *Billboard* Music Awards. At the 2014 World Music Awards, the EP was nominated for Best Album, which went to *Coup d'Etat* by G-Dragon.

### Chart and commercial performance

*The Love Club EP* debuted and peaked on the New Zealand Albums Chart at number two on 18 March 2013. It stayed on the chart for a total of 41 weeks. The EP became the fifth best-selling album of the year in New Zealand and was certified platinum by the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for shipping more than 15,000 units in the country. In Australia, the record appeared on the ARIA Singles Chart at number two. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) certified *The Love Club EP* septuple platinum for shipments of more than 490,000 copies in Australia. In the US, the record peaked at number 23 on the *Billboard*200 and had sold 60,000 copies by August 2013; it became the 182nd best-selling album of the year in the US.

## Tracklist

All songs written and composed by Joel Little and Ella Yelich-O'Connor (Lorde), except "Swingin Party", written by Paul Westerberg.

1. Bravado
2. Royals\*
3. Million Dollar Bills
4. The Love Club
5. Biting Down

***\*Note: on the** US iTunes Store September 2013 edition, "Royals" is replaced with "Swingin' Party".*

## Credits and personnel

Credits from liner notes.

* Lorde – vocals, writing
* Joel Little – writing, production, mixing
* Stuart Hawkes – mastering

## References

1. ↑ Interview with Scott MacLachlan, manager of Lorde". HitQuarters
2. ↑ Joel Little – Rings Of The Lorde (page 2). *NZ Musician*
3. ↑ Joel Little: Doing the Lorde's work". *The New Zealand Herald*.
4. ↑ "Nomination for worlds best album". World Music Awards.
5. ↑ Charts.org.nz – Lorde – The Love Club EP

 "Top Selling Albums Of 2013". Recorded Music NZ.

 Top 20 New Zealand Albums Chart". Recorded Music
8. ↑ The Love Club EP - Lorde - AllMusic
9. ↑ "Lorde - The Love Club EP | Releases". Discogs.