7

spice is a concept album
ice worker who falls in love

) end with no pauses in
story of heartbreak, loss,
in. The songs vary from
hat hopeful, most notably
r the album, “Bear.”

ed with a music video: a
boulder up a hill amid a

. Fitting, as the song is
rminally-ill hospice patient,
mbers watching as the

ice again, the burden of the
—to bear.

vere to be made into a
much like those in the
and whites blending

light from the sun casting
haracters.

uld take place in a hospital
it lights and sterile white
o the mood of the album.
iS a lonely hospital bed

t moonlight flooding in

latter may be, Hospice is
n, and dares to step into
yy musicians but rarely

, loss, and illness. A

e album would not be the
uld be beautifully touching

Cry Baby

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Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor

Melanie Martinez’s debut album Cry Baby takes
inspiration from the idea of the deception of innocence,
so the music itself is fairly upbeat or childlike, but with
a darker message in the lyrics themselves. Flowing
seamlessly between the Electronic and Alternative
genres, this album tells a very distinct and sinister story
if you follow the progression of the song list.

If this album had a visual element it would begin with
showing an isolated young girl with a difficult home life.
Though her family has the appearance of perfection,

it simply isn’t, and this leaves her feeling alone
(“Dollhouse” and “Sippy Cup”). She is then kidnapped
and held captive by a man who, over a period of time,
gives her some form of the love and affection she
craved, so she then develops Stockholm Syndrome
(“Tag, you’re it”). However, as her own feelings
manifest, she begins to exhibit extreme jealousy,

not only over his relationship with the other captives
he holds, but also over all his personal relationships
outside of the one he has with her. It is at this point
she decides to kill him rather than lose him (“Milk

and Cookies”). After he’s dead, she falls in and out of
relationships with older men who value her only for her
youthful beauty (“Mrs. Potato Head”), but as that fades
away she has a breakdown and she’s left alone and
addicted to pharmaceuticals (“Mad Hatter’).

Pure Heroine

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Cazzy Lewchuk, Opinions Editor

Having written and recorded most of songs before the
age of 16, Lorde’s debut album tells a beautiful journey
of her teenaged emotions and talent. From the opening
love lament of “Tennis Court” to the romantic ballad
closer, “A World Alone,” one truly gets to know Lorde’s
mind throughout the album.

If this album were to be presented visually in its
entirety, we would visit her at a party, drive through
roads where the houses don’t change, and explore
her mindset and coping of newfound fame. Many of
her songs deal with her friends, so we would follow
them to the tennis courts, under overpasses, and

on subways, while they talk, drink, bond, and fight
out their problems. It’s a pretty unique situation to

be a world-famous musician before you even have a
driver’s licence, but this album conveys the experience
beautifully. Lorde does her own music for her own
reasons, and one feels as though they’ve just done
an in-depth interview when it concludes. She’s got
her own typical teen experiences (sharing beds and
laughing like little kids with a special friend) and some
less relatable celebrity ones, and we would get to see
that contrast visually. (She may not always be smiling,
but the notes from her admirers on Tumblr fill the
dashboard all the same.)

Lorde is a typical teen girl who also happens to be a
superstar. She doesn’t think she’s better than anyone
else, and she knows that everything’s cool when we’re
all in line for the throne. She also tells us that we’ll
never be royals. We know it, and we feel it with—and
for—her.