Pure Heroine

Auckland-born singer/songwriter Ella Yelich-O’Connor chose the name Lorde to evoke an “aristocratic title,” and there’s an undoubted majesty—a regal swoop—to this, her pitch-perfect debut record. “Royals” helps, of course. But Pure Heroine’s breakout single, a nitro-cold rejection of music-video flashiness atop a neck-snapping beat, is matched at each turn by everything from the whumping clarion call of “Team” to the tinkling tropical pop of “Buzzcut Season.” Precocious, controlled, and blazingly original.