Four years after her debut album, Pure Heroine, Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor— better known by her stage name, Lorde— has grown beyond belief. In her second studio album, Melodrama, she opens up about her journey through the bliss and shambles of her relationships. With the sheer level of intimacy and raw human emotion that she exhibits in her most recent album, Lorde unquestionably merits recognition as one of the best pop artists of the year, alongside powerhouses like Adele, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheehan. Melodrama falls under modern electropop, serving as a great transition into the genre.

Lorde tastefully captures the feelings of heartbreak like no one else in the music industry. At only 20 years old, she was able to incorporate a “flow” to the album that other artists often struggle to accomplish — playing like a narrative, rather than a collection of songs that were thrown together. The album opens with euphoric beats from “Green Light,” ”Sober” and “Homemade Dynamite,” all three of which place us in the room with Lorde, living in the moment as the “kings and queens” of the party. Like magic, Lorde sways the listener to dance their problems away.

Through powerful vocals in her songs “Writer in the Dark” and “Hard feelings/Loveless,” she sheds light on the inevitable aspects of a breakup. She mourns the difficulty of holding onto feelings but lays out a truth that people seem to forget; that one can move on with their lives.

Melodrama’s most valuable message is embedded in the piano driven ballads of “Liability” and “Liability (Reprise),” in which Lorde forgets everyone else and focuses on her self-growth as an individual. Thanks to the tone of the melody, the switch from her addiction to the party life to her journey of self-discovery is executed exquisitely.

In the age of meaningless lyrics overlapped by catchy tunes, Lorde delivers with incredible writing, vocals and beats, making Melodrama the optimum modern pop album. Her candid exposition can be experienced live at the American Airlines Arena on April 12, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.