"No Better" is a song by New Zealand singer-songwriter

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Taking inspiration from aristocracy for her stage name, she is known for her unconventional musical styles and i ...

, taken from the extended version of her debut studio album ''

Pure Heroine ''Pure Heroine'' is the debut studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde. It was released on 27 September 2013 by Universal Music Group, Universal, Lava Records, Lava, and Republic Records. After several unsuccessful sessions with song ...

'' (2013). The track was released on 13 December 2013 by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

as a promotional tool for the album. "No Better" is an

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

and

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

ballad with elements of hip hop, in which Lorde discusses an infatuation. Music critics opined that the single has similar musical style to songs from ''Pure Heroine''.

Background and composition

"No Better" was written by Lorde (credited under her birth-name Ella Yelich-O'Connor) and Joel Little. On 13 December 2013, the track was released as a digital download

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

. The single was made available for free until 19 December as a part of the iTunes Store's "12 Days of Gifts"

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

promotion. "No Better" is an

and

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

with hip hop elements. The song has a similar sonority to that of other songs from ''Pure Heroine'', featuring Lorde's "feathery" vocals and minimal

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

. It incorporates "woozy"

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

s, and "pulsing"

synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

s in its instrumentation, making the song's melody "dreamy", according to Whitney Phaneuf of HitFix. Lyrically, the song features Lorde " elebratingan infatuation that deepens as the seasons change". At the first verse, she sings "We roll in every summer when there's strength in our numbers / And your breath's hot and gross but I kiss you like a lover". During the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

the

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

beat becomes more intense as Lorde sings "Go all the way / Have your fun, have it all".

Reception

Marc Hogan from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' wrote that the song "flits between fairly vivid first-person details", while Whitney Phaneuf from HitFix labelled "No Better" a "sexy" track. Eric Danton of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' opined that the lyrics of the song are "girlish and knowing". Writing for ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', L. V. Anderson shared that "No Better" is reminiscent of some of the best tracks on ''Pure Heroine'', but also "lighter, simpler ..and more confectionary than most of her debut album", in spite of its dark theme. "No Better" entered the New Zealand Artists Singles Chart at number seven on 23 December 2013. It dropped to number nineteen the following week, before falling out of the chart.

Track listing

*Digital download #"No Better" – 2:50 #"

Royals Royals may refer to: Entertainment * The Royals (band), a Jamaican reggae vocal group * The Royals, original name of The Midnighters * "Royals" (song), a 2013 single by Lorde * ''The Royals'' (TV series), a 2015 E! network drama series * ''The ...

" – 4:03

Release history

References

Notes

Citations

{{authority control 2010s ballads 2013 singles 2013 songs Electropop ballads Lorde songs Songs written by Lorde Songs written by Joel Little Trip hop songs Song recordings produced by Joel Little