Jet Planes, Islands, Tigers on a Gold Leash

Royals by Lorde was a global mega-hit and remains an undeniable art-pop earworm with mesmerizing things under the surface. Royals is an excellent sub-bass and vocal demo, while retaining appeal to a huge variety of audiences.

Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor is a New Zealand-born artist known better by her stage name, Lorde. She exploded onto the pop culture stage in 2012 with Royals, the lone single from an obscure extended play release titled "The Love Club EP," which she made after signing with UMG on the back of a talent show performance in her early teens. "The Love Club EP" was uploaded to Soundcloud and made available for free, with Royals promoting it as the first single.

Royals hit the world like a freight train. It topped charts in Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States in mere weeks. Lorde and her teams quickly finished her first full-length studio album, "Pure Heroine," and released it in 2013 to widespread critical and commercial acclaim. Royals landed two Grammy Awards for Best Pop Solo Performance and Song of the Year.

Popularity isn't enough to make me recommend Royals, but that certainly adds charm. Royals was inescapable in 2013–it was playing at the store, the coffee shop, the radio, the TV, and the Doctor's office. It's a bonafide four-quadrant mega-hit. It's both polished and earnest. Lorde is a beautiful singer with legit indie credibility. The lyrics have a populist countercultural appeal but are family-friendly. A danceable groove and multiple killer hooks shine through even on sound bars and tinny iPhone speakers. When a song is as big as Royals, sitting down with it on a decent hi-fi system to find out that it absolutely (ahem) rules is a real treat.

The presence of Royals is fabulous. The sound stage is ample. Finger snaps are sharp as knives and echo in the space. I'm transported to a bohemian crash pad in an abandoned warehouse. Gang vocals are nuanced and textured, washing over and around the mix. Minimal programmed beats are weighty and tight before expanding into sub-bass notes that no one hears at Starbucks.

Royals is one of my go-to test/demo tracks simply because, whether they know it or not, most people have heard it a dozen times or more in various settings. But they still need to listen to it. This makes Royals a great candidate for showing off your stereo and lifting an everyday audio experience up to something fit for a queen.

Data

Song: Royals
Album: Pure Heroine
Artist: Lorde
Genre: Alternative, Art Pop, Electro Pop
Year: 2013
Length: 3:10
Composer: Ella Yelich O'Connor & Joel Little
Producer: Joel Little