"The song, in which a young woman confesses to being simply "a little much" for the people around her, is built around a steady, descending piano part that sounds more like the skeletal framework musicians use to teach each other chord changes than a fully fleshed-out song. Listening to it feels almost like sitting next to the singer as she's coming up with the song in real time, noodling away at the piano in the early morning hours,"
"She's just been broken up with, she tells us, and has come home to "the arms of the girl that I love," which seems like a good enough place for her to be. But a few lines later, she admits there's no such girl-or at least, that the only person whose love she can really manage is her own, and even that relationship can be a little stormy."
At a Philadelphia arena concert, Lorde performed every song from her new album, yet the audience gasped at an unexpected older track, "Liability." The piano-driven song conveys a narrator who feels like "a little much" and portrays intimate self-reflection, solitary gestures, and tentative queer desire. The recording's spare, descending piano evokes a songwriter composing in real time. Across Virgin, Lorde balances increased confidence with deep vulnerability. The material grapples with gender identity, an eating disorder, and the end of a long-term relationship, reflecting a mature artist processing personal upheaval while maintaining emotional clarity in performance.
Read at Slate Magazine
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