Sober (Lorde song)


"Sober" is a song recorded by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde, from her second studio album Melodrama. Lorde co-wrote and co-produced the song with Jack Antonoff, with production assistance from Malay and vocal production from Kuk Harrell. It was released on 9 June 2017, by Republic as the album's second promotional single. "Sober" is the first of a two-track song, which is completed by "Sober II ". It is an electronic R&B song that features a tiger's roar, trumpets, brass and tenor and baritone saxophones in its production. The lyrics detail the desire to tell someone how you feel about them while wondering how it will be once the liquor wears down.
The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics who praised its unexpected direction and departure from the maximalist production of her previous singles "Green Light" and "Perfect Places". It was also compared to the minimalist production on the singer's debut album Pure Heroine and the works of the xx. The song had minor chart placements in Australia and Canada, placing at 61 and 84, respectively. Lorde performed "Sober", with six other songs, as part of a re-imagined Vevo series at the Electric Lady Studios where she recorded most of her album. It was also part of the set list of her Melodrama World Tour.

Background

In a podcast interview with Hrishikesh Hirway's Song Exploder, Lorde described her first summer after her breakup with longtime boyfriend James Lowe as "wild and fluorescent"; as a result, she would often go drinking in her native country of New Zealand and had a strong desire to cope with her heartache. She describes the song as the moment when someone wants to confess a potential lover how they feel about them while knowing the other person feels the same way. However, to approach them, one relies on the party's activities to unfold. The singer revealed that throughout the song, mumbled screams "from detached bodies" are heard.
Lorde's fear of recording on Westlake Recording Studios, which to her was "too fancy", resulted in her exhibiting writer's block. She found a small production room, which she called "The Rat Nest", to create the song. In a demo, the overall production was initially more "moody" and "emotional". She had specific ideas about "Sober" and knew how she wanted it to take shape early in the recording process. Jack Antonoff was open to letting Lorde take control of the production. The groove of the song, came after playing a show at Coachella, which was formed using a bongo drum and Lorde singing the words "night, midnight, lose my mind" which were subsequently sampled into the track.
On 7 November 2016, Lorde met with producer Malay in New York City at a session where he underlaid the groove she worked on with Antonoff into the whole song. In this session, she also developed the pause that occurs before the first verse. The horns in the track took inspiration from Hudson Mohawke's production work on TNGHT. She also wanted the track's brass and horns to sound triumphant, testing out a tenor and baritone saxophone as well as the trumpet; Laura Sisk oversaw this during engineering. The sound of a tiger's roar appears before the bridge, which was added two sessions before the song concluded when Antonoff was looking through song samples. According to Antonoff, this was one of his proudest moments when recording Melodrama.

Recording and lyrical interpretation

Lorde recorded "Sober" at three different locations in the United States. She began recording at Westlake Recording Studios, in Los Angeles, California, assisted by recording engineer Eric Eylands. Additional recording also took place at Electric Lady Studios, in Greenwich Village, New York with Malay. Recording was completed at Rough Customer Studios, Antonoff's home studio in Brooklyn Heights where he found the tiger's roar sample used in the track. John Hanes mixed the song at MixStar Studios. Laura Sisk served as the engineer for the track.
"Sober" is composed in the key of C major with a moody pop tempo of 110 beats per minute. Lorde's vocals span a range of F3 to D5 and its chord progression follows a basic sequence of F–Am–G. It is an electronic R&B song using bongo drums, trumpets, the tenor and baritone saxophones, brass and a hidden tiger's roar in its production. Rolling Stone writer Jon Blistein described "Sober" as having "rumbling drums and gauzy synths" that slowly build to include "brash horn stabs that dance around Lorde's vocals." Pitchfork editor Marc Hogan expressed that the song had a "spare and slinky electro-R&B" production similar to her debut studio album Pure Heroine or the xx. Lauren O'Neill from Noisey described its production as having "prominent percussion" with horns and an "almost hoarse purr" of a vocal.
The New Yorkers Carrie Battan stated that the lines, "I know this story by heart / Jack and Jill get fucked up and get possessive when they get dark" were about the "experience of being too lucid to ever really feel drunk". Dan Weiss from Consequence of Sound compared the same line to the vocal expressions of Prince and noted the track's "sparse array of bending and clicking textures" on the production. PopMatters writer Andrew Dorsett also mentioned that the line referenced the "imagery of a weekend more euphoric than pills is a little familiar" but notes that Lorde looks "ahead" in the chorus line, "What will we do when we're sober?". Mike Neid from Idolator stated that the lyrics detail how "she drunkenly loses herself in a partner's temporary embrace at a party". O'Neill described "Sober" as the part "where things get a bit intense and your heart starts hurting a bit and you start making out with your ex".

Critical reception

"Sober" received mostly positive reviews from music critics upon release. Several critics compared its minimalist production to Pure Heroine, a departure from the maximalism of her previous singles "Green Light" and "Perfect Places". Spin writer Andy Cush called the song the "strangest" track Lorde had released so far. Cush compared the "crisp, minimal percussion" to her work on Pure Heroine, adding that it had a "slyly 2017 twist." The National Public Radio called "Sober" a "stormy epic about risk and regret that's timed perfectly to coincide with the start of an eventful weekend." Rolling Stone described the song as a "a sexy midtempo jam endlessly second-guessing its own pleasure". The Atlantic called "Sober" one of the highlights on the record, with writer Spencer Kornhaber stating that the track's "Latin shimmying gives way to gothic choruses".
Writing for Pitchfork, Marc Hodges called the song "transitional", as if it was in "motion to somewhere else". He called the production of the track "intoxicating" and found that while the name of the track was "less novel" for a performer like herself, the "execution was "still tough to deny." Idolator writer Neid stated that while the song was a "bit of a rehash of her previous material," it boasted some of the "most finessed productions" on the album. Despite several critic's comments over the track's conventionality, it was listed at number one on Stereogums top five songs of the week list for June 16. Peter from the publication commended the singer and Antonoff for being able to "capture the highs and the lows of a night out by crafting a banger that feels both understated and anthemic". DIY also placed "Sober" in their best tracks of the week list, with Will Richards complementing how "wonderfully versatile Lorde has become, and how effortlessly she slips into each guise."

Live performances

Lorde debuted "Sober" at a "tiny pre-Coachella gig" to a crowd of 240 at Pappy & Harriet's on 15 April 2017. This was the first full-length concert since July 2014. Before introducing the song, she stated that recording "Sober" was one of her most favorite things she had ever done. Tickets sold out in minutes. Eve Barlow from Billboard praised the performance, saying that it was "heartwarming to watch Lorde engage with such easy confidence" on stage, noting her growth in her level of comfort with the crowd. Lorde also performed the song at the Governors Ball on 2 June 2017. During the performance, a tilted box was used, pointing downward. At the end, the box opens and Lorde falls into the arms of her dancers. NME called the performance "simple, but delivered with so much poise and finesse, you can't help but be impressed." Lorde performed "Sober", with six other songs, as part of a re-imagined Vevo series at the Electric Lady Studios where she recorded most of her album and was part of the set list of her Melodrama World Tour.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Melodrama.
Recording and management
Personnel

Weekly charts

Certifications