Given her world-beating success, it was only a matter of time before the Lorde imitators started showing up.
But who would have thought that among the first would be a singing blonde doppelgänger who’s two years younger than the ‘Royals’ hit-maker, real name Ella Yelich-O’Connor, and whose familiarity is literally close to home.
Meet India Yelich O’Connor, Lorde’s 15-year-old sister. Like every self-respecting teen, India’s got a blog and a twitter, and though she hasn’t got a musical non de plume of her own yet (though India may just do fine), she’s already made her recording debut.
Well, sort of. O’Connor Jnr issued her debut recording on Soundcloud recently, as Consequence Of Sound picked up on, with a cover of ‘Say Something’ by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera.
To be fair, it’s a rough, homemade recording rather than a polished studio production but it does demonstrate that good vocal genes run in the family. The fresh-faced New Zealander is equipped with a similarly lithe set of pipes that could be mistaken for Lorde (especially on the curled phrasing of “I’ll be the one if you want me to.” )
The Soundcloud debut may just be a case of the young sibling having fun rather than an early sign of a fully blown attempt to follow in her chart-topping, history-making older sister’s footsteps, which is not an easy shadow to escape (just ask Solange Knowles or Ashlee Simpson).
As for India’s celebrity sister, Lorde recently landed on the cover of Rolling Stone (sporting a Cramps t-shirt, no less – see below) and was recently nominated for the Best International Solo Female at the 2014 BRITs.
That’s on top of the 17-year-old’s three nods in the 56th Annual Grammy’s, her US smash hit ‘Royals’ up for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance, with Lorde herself performing at the ceremony.
The Grammy’s take place at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles on Sunday 26th January, the same day that Lorde could find herself in the upper echelons of the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown (though you could always take a look at the Warmest 100 predictions for a more accurate guess).
Lorde returns to tour Australia as part of the Laneway 2014 festival lineup next February, playing after her Sheryl Crowe-covering buddies Haim on the main stage in each of the festival’s five legs – the only place to catch her live as there will be no Laneway sideshows.
Take heart however, Lorde has previously indicated that she’s planning another headline tour of the Antipodes in “April-ish,” perhaps with material from a new album in tow. “We’ve got lots of stuff being planned… we’ll have to wait and see,” said the Kiwi star after dropping a surprise new single last December.
i have to keep reminding myself that this is my life. this month's rolling stone cover girl: yours truly pic.twitter.com/ARK27xadsy
— Lorde (@lordemusic) January 15, 2014
Laneway Festival 2014 Dates & Venues
View the Laneway Festival 2014 Timetables & Maps here.
Brisbane: Friday 31st January – RNA Showgrounds, Fortitude Valley
Melbourne: Saturday 1st February – Footscray Community Arts Centre/River’s Edge – SOLD OUT
Sydney: Sunday 2nd February – Sydney College Of The Arts, Rozelle – SOLD OUT
Adelaide: Friday 7th February – Harts Mill, Port Adelaide
Perth: Saturday 8th February – Esplanade Park and West End, Fremantle
Tickets and info at http://lanewayfestival.com/
