‘The magic lives close to the edge’: Lorde and artist Martine Syms on the beauty of the self

New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde, who just released her new album “Solar Power,” and artist Martine Syms are the latest guests on the “Talkhouse” podcast to discuss the beauty of the self.

During the conversation, Lorde talks about the importance of being authentic in art and how she has learned to use her ego “like a flashlight” to examine her own work. She says, “I finally found a bit of logic and order in the chaos, and it’s sort of like, the magic lives close to the edge, and if you go too far, it’s just noise. And you have to be living in the moment to hear it, and you have to be listening to it closely to separate the noise from the magic. But once you find it, it’s everything you need for a whole album.”

Martine Syms also discusses the importance of authenticity in art, saying, “I feel like there’s a lot of people who are sort of posturing in this like, ‘I don’t care about anything’ way, or like, ‘I’m so crazy. I’m so wild.’ And then they’re very controlled, and it’s like this weird performance of madness, almost. And I feel like that’s the opposite of authenticity. Like, the authenticity is saying, ‘This is who I am. This is what the work is.’ And it’s not for everyone, and that’s fine. You know, someone else might connect with it, and that’s kind of it. And that’s the beauty of the self.

You can listen to the full episode on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.