Buzzcut Season

"Buzzcut Season"
Promotional single by Lorde
from the album Pure Heroine
Released23 September 2013
RecordedGolden Age Studios (Auckland)
GenreElectropop
Length4:06
LabelUMG
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Joel Little
  • Ella Yelich-O'Connor
Audio video
"Buzzcut Season" on YouTube

"Buzzcut Season" is a song by New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde, taken from her debut studio album, Pure Heroine (2013). It was released on 23 September 2013 by Universal Music Group (UMG) as a promotional single from the album. Written by Lorde and Joel Little, "Buzzcut Season" is an electropop song that features elements from tropical music and discusses the "ridiculousness of modern life."[1]

Upon its release, "Buzzcut Season" was met with positive reviews from music critics, who praised its production and Lorde's vocal delivery on the track. The song reached number twenty-nine on the US Billboard Hot Rock Songs and number thirty-eight on the ARIA Streaming Tracks. Lorde performed "Buzzcut Season" during a number of shows, including the Late Show with David Letterman.

Background and composition

"Buzzcut Season"
A 24-second sample of "Buzzcut Season", featuring xylophone instrumentation
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Buzzcut Season" was written by Lorde (credited under her birth-name Ella Yelich-O'Connor) and Joel Little, and was produced and mixed by Little.[2] Similar to other songs from the album Pure Heroine,[3] "Buzzcut Season" was recorded at Golden Age Studios in Auckland.[2] On 23 September 2013, the track was released as a digital download promotional single on iTunes Stores by Universal Music New Zealand.[4]

"Buzzcut Season" is an electropop[5] song that draws inspirations from tropical music,[6] and features percussion snaps and xylophone in its instrumentation.[6] Lyrically, the song talks about the "ridiculousness of modern life."[1] Sammy Maine from the website Drowned in Sound commented that the song was a "heartbreaking comment on our war-driven way of life."[7] She pointed out the lyrics "Explosions on TV and all the girls with heads inside a dream" against M.I.A.'s pop-reggae musical style.[7] Gaby Whitehill from Gigwise website called the song a "melancholy affair" and praised the "epic piano laden beat combined with the 16-year-old's haunting vocals."[8]

Reception and promotion

Jason Lipshutz from Billboard praised the song's production and Lorde's vocal delivery.[9] Writer Michelle Pitiris for Vulture chose "Buzzcut Season" as a highlight from Pure Heroine and compared its sound to French electronic duo Air.[10] Idolator editor Mike Wass labelled it "another twinkling postcard from the streets of Auckland" but felt that it failed to "capture the attention" like "400 Lux" or "Tennis Court", two other songs from the album.[11] "Buzzcut Season" spent five weeks on the Australian ARIA Streaming Tracks chart, peaking at number thirty-eight.[12] It also reached number 29 on the US Hot Rock Songs.[13] In New Zealand, "Buzzcut Season" peaked at number 18 on the New Zealand National Singles chart, which lists the best-performing singles by New Zealand artists in the country.[14]

On 3 October 2013, the singer held a concert at the Warsaw Venue in Brooklyn and performed the song among other tracks from the album.[15] On 12 October 2013, Lorde performed "Buzzcut Season" in Studio Q of CBC.[16] On 13 November 2013, Lorde performed several songs from Pure Heroine during the Late Show with David Letterman to promote the album, including "Buzzcut Season".[17] According to Rolling Stone, the "sparkly-dressed" and "big-haired" singer performed only backed by a drummer and a keyboard player.[18]

Singers Troye Sivan and Lauv reference the title of the song on their track "I'm So Tired..." (2019).[19] Sivan stated in an interview with Paper that he and Lauv decided to include "Buzzcut Season" into the song's lyrics after having a discussion in his backyard about melancholic songs that uplifted the pair's emotions.[20]

Track listing

Digital download[4]
  1. "Buzzcut Season" – 4:06

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[23] Gold 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[24] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[25] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ a b Farrier, David (27 September 2013). "Pure Heroine: Track-by-track Review". 3News. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b Pure Heroine (inlay cover). Lorde. Universal Music Group. 2013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ Jenkin, Lydia (19 September 2013). "Joel Little: Doing the Lorde's work". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Buzzcut Season – Single". Singapore: iTunes Store. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Lorde, 'Pure Heroine': Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  6. ^ a b Cospey, Robert (22 October 2013). "Lorde: 'Pure Heroine' album review: 'A startlingly confident debut'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  7. ^ a b Maine, Sammy (24 October 2013). "Album Review: Lorde – Pure Heroine". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  8. ^ Whitehill, Gaby (27 September 2013). "Lorde new track 'Buzzcut Season' from Pure Heroine". Gigwise. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  9. ^ Lipshutz, Jason. "Lorde: 'Pure Heroine' Track-By-Track Review". Billboard. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  10. ^ Pitiris, Michelle (1 October 2013). "Album Review: Lorde – 'Pure Heroine'". Vulture Australia. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  11. ^ Wass, Mike (30 September 2013). "Lorde's 'Pure Heroine': Album Review". Idolator. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  12. ^ a b "The ARIA Report" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 4 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Lorde: Chart history". Billboard. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  14. ^ a b "Top 20 New Zealand Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  15. ^ Kamer, Foster (4 October 2013). "Live Review: Lorde Brings Brooklyn More Than a Chart-Topper". Complex. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  16. ^ "Lorde performs "Buzzcut Season" in Studio Q". Canadian Broadcasting Company. 12 October 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  17. ^ Weinstein, Max (13 November 2013). "Lorde Turns Heads With Her 'Letterman' Performance". Vibe. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  18. ^ Grow, Kory (13 November 2013). "Lorde Is Blissful During Six-Song 'Live on Letterman' Set". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  19. ^ Daly, Rhian (24 January 2019). "Listen to Lauv and Troye Sivan's Lorde and Coldplay-referencing collaboration 'I'm So Tired…'". NME. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  20. ^ Goldfine, Jael (7 February 2019). "Troye Sivan and Lauv on Their New Anti-Love Song". Paper. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  21. ^ Lane, Daniel (12 November 2013). "Lorde knocks OneRepublic off the top of the Official Streaming Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  22. ^ "Hot Rock Songs: Year End 2014". Billboard. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  23. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Lorde – Buzzcut Season" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  24. ^ "British single certifications – Lorde – Buzzcut Season". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  25. ^ "American single certifications – Lorde – Buzzcut Season". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 6 December 2023.