Four years after Lorde illuminated suburban teendom with Pure Heroine, she captures the dizzying agony of adolescence on Melodrama. “Everyone has that first proper year of adulthood”, she told Apple Music. “I think I had that year”. She chronicles her experiences in these insightful odes to self-discovery that find her battling loneliness (“Sober”), conquering heartbreak (“Writer in the Dark”), embracing complexity (“Hard Feelings/Loveless”), and letting herself lose control. “Every night I live and die”, she sings on “Perfect Places”, an emotionally charged song about escaping reality. “I’m 19 and I'm on fire”.