London – As most 16 year olds have been returning to school over the past few weeks, Ella Yelich-O’Connor, better known as Lorde, has been preparing for the launch of her highly anticipated debut album “Pure Heroine”.  Since being signed to Universal Music in her native New Zealand at the age of 13, Lorde has become a household name in Australasia with her debut EP “The Love Club”, initially released in November 2012, going triple platinum in Australia and gold in New Zealand.

If a multi-platinum selling EP wasn’t a good enough start to Yelich-O’Connor’s musical career, the singer notched up two #1 singles in the summer of 2013 and the more recent of those singles “Tennis Court” was quite fittingly used during TV coverage of this year’s Wimbledon Championships.  She also became the first New Zealand artist to simultaneously hold four positions in the country’s Top 40 singles chart.  Not bad then, for someone born three days after the release of the Spice Girl’s debut album in November 1996!

It would have been easy for Lorde to simply pack “Pure Heroine” with all of her material to date.  It would have certainly ensured sales, whilst allowing her to save some of her bigger songs for a follow up a couple of months later.  Bravely though, the album features just a handful of previously released tracks with “Royals” alone in making the step up from “The Love Club” EP.

Opening with the aforementioned “Tennis Court” Lorde doesn’t pussyfoot around, throwing one of her strongest and most well-known tracks in from the start. The sound of ambient electronica, building towards a full chorus sets the blueprint for the rest of the album and the song more than justifies the impressive sales figures it has already notched up since its initial release in June.

Weaving in and out of the singles which are, unsurprisingly, the album’s strongest tracks, there’s more than enough to keep the album interesting. The way in which Lorde has put the album together eliminates any chance of monotony and the different styles on display show a genuine musical talent.  “Buzzcut Season” could easily slot on to a Lana Del Rey record with its laid back style and the impressive choruses in songs like “Team” and “A World Alone” help to give the album diversity.

The lyrics in “Still Sane” could be a wonderful premonition of what’s to come “I’m little but I’m coming for the crown” but you get the impression that Lorde already knows that. When you’ve written all of the tracks on a debut album as strong as “Pure Heroine” you have the right to be a bit arrogant.  The music behind the lyrics ties it all together, busy when necessary, but in the most part spacious and not the dominant feature in any of the albums ten tracks.

Overall, two things impress most about Lorde.  Firstly, she doesn’t resort to the over singing / wailing that has been present in some female led vocals of late.  Secondly, that when the music is toned down and the words take centre-stage (on pretty much every song), there’s actually relatable content hidden beneath.  It’s not airy-fairy ideals about Prince Charming arriving to make her dreams come true.  Nor is it written in a way that makes you feel like Lorde’s desperate to be an adult.  It’s an impressive middle ground to find and gives the album real sincerity.

As many a critic has said, there’s a touch of The XX about Lorde, but personally that comparison does the young songwriter a slight injustice.  Whilst The XX’s debut album is one which will embed in the subconscious, “Pure Heroine” will keep you singing for a good while, before going back to being your ambient mood-setter of an evening.

“Pure Heroine” lives up to all of the hype surrounding Lorde and then some. With an ever increasing marketing campaign already seeing her perform on the BBC’s ‘Later with Jools Holland’ in the UK and a set on KCRW which has already amassed over a million views on YouTube, there’s every chance that Lorde is going to be everywhere you turn in coming months. At a time in which mainstream radio is somewhat lacking, I for one can’t wait.