I would be more definite about it and say it is NOT V-IV-I in the key of E, because E is not the home note that Lorde sings.
In other words, the melody, what they sing, defines the Roman Numeral analysis of the chords.
Sweet HOME Alabama is a famous I-bVII-IV song in D mixolydian. D-C-G. It is NOT V-IV-I in G because D is the home note.
As an experiment, trying singing “Lord I’m coming home to YOU” with YOU as a G note instead of D. Doesn’t sound like HOME.

Wow. Thanks for the mini-review! Gonna half to listen a bit deeper next time.

“Feel It Still” is fun to listen to — and you’re right that the production is really dialed in. It uses a combination of retro and modern techniques in a very appealing way. You can hear the spring-reverb-and-slapback-delay effect on the electric guitar which reminds me of 1960s Philly and Detroit soul. And clearly the vocals are channeling early 70s Curtis Mayfield, which is awesome. The brass and wind section — with the prominent baritone sax imparting a gritty, reedy sound reminiscent of Doc Kupka from Tower of Power — is also a marvelous ingredient. When you juxtapose all of those tasty retro flavors with the song’s modern dance beat, it effectively brings these decades-old aesthetics into the new century.

Compositionally, it’s very simple — but that’s not a bad thing. The entire song is essentially three chords (Dbmin, E, Gb5), but there’s a kind of inherent ambiguity in that simplicity that I find alluring. [Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” is, arguably, even simpler — only two chords in Eb Dorian mode — and I absolutely love it.]

One of the cool things about “Feel It Still” is that third chord — which I’m calling Gb5. The “quality” (i.e., whether it’s Major or minor) is ambiguous. It’s like a piece of fabric that can look like one color or another depending on how the light catches it. At times, I think I’m hearing Gb Major, at other times, it seems like Gb minor — depending on the context of what’s going on around it. That inherent tonal vagueness really appeals to me — and I suspect it does to others as well — because it invites the me to imagine what I think I should be hearing (but am not actually hearing). The song’s melody is all based on the Db minor pentatonic (5-note) scale, and it alludes to the main hook of the Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman,” so there’s something quite familiar about it.

I get why people like the song. There’s nothing compositionally groundbreaking about it, but it does combine familiar elements in an engaging way.

War on Jugs!

Agree!

Agree. “Feel It Still” by Potugal. The Man freaks me out because the production is amazing. But I don’t love it, mostly because of the dumb lyrics. Is it a good song, Vivek? Or is it an ear candy trick?

But not Wilco HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAJAJAHA

Jesus, I’m joking guys. …Fuck, I do not want that TNOC smoke, I promise.
https://media.giphy.com/media/HOzBvOzRB6M48/giphy.gif

Most likely George Michael wasn’t one of the first 100 to use a progression like this. You can hear something very similar in Primal Scream’s Loaded, or the Stones with Sympathy for the Devil and of course the Rolling Stones were influenced by the Blues which is almost certainly where this progression comes from.

In Theory

Totally. And “Never Gonna Let You Go” does that beautifully, IMO. I think of Stevie Wonder as a textbook example of a songwriter who does just that.

It’s a lot more interesting to make complex things sound simple than it is to make simple things sound complex.

I don’t think at all that Taylor Swift and Lorde are “terribly wrong.” I find them both to be outstanding at their craft. Similar case can also apply in my world with Jenny Lewis, Marina, Wolf Alice, Chvrches, Tops, Lucius, Hazel English, Beach House, Chairlift, Alesund, etc.

What an awesome idea, prefab. The more columns, the better.

…anaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I’ve got “Ancient Dreams in A Modern Land’ stuck in my head again.

mans never been in marquee when it’s broke down eh? trust me daddy

Pecking Pop Music to the Core

bang bang, my baby broke me down

The Diminu End (O) Theory

https://thecircleoffifths.wordpress.com/

Dammit, dammit, dammit.

Seriously? We can’t have fucking anything!? When will their tyranny end!?

AuPOPsy

Mmmm, Song Schematics could work better

Behind the Bars
Theoretically Speaking
Decomposing Pop
Notes on Notes
Chromatic Attack

Musical Schematics

This is the best suggestion, I wish I’d thought of it.

Viveksections

“Why Theory?”

“Why Theory?”

“Why Theory?”

In the case of this song, yes

Now?

Your thoughts on production are on point. Modern pop stars have a lot of room to grow..

Yes — you can call it V-IV-I in the key of E. But the song’s “center of gravity” really does feel like B, which is why I designated that as the I chord.

To your question about how much theory goes in to the composing process for pop songs: I think it varies depending on the composer’s goals. My impression of Lorde is that she’s writing more viscerally than intellectually — which, as you know, is how a lot of great music has been written. You can always put on your analytical hat afterwards and marvel at the underlying musical architecture of what you’ve created — even if you weren’t thinking about it during the writing process. For “Solar Power,” unfortunately, there’s just not very much going on, and maybe the song would’ve benefited from Lorde and Antonoff being a bit more adventurous musically.

Regarding the Rick Beato video on Sergio Mendes’ “Never Gonna Let You Go”: I’ve always wondered if Mann and Weil deliberately employed the complex modulations as a challenge to themselves to find a way to glue it all together with a digestible pop melody. [It’s like creating an unnecessarily complicated problem specifically in order to use a high degree of skill, precision, and creativity to solve it. Or a musical Rube Goldberg device where you achieve something simple using a convoluted process.] The song may be corny, but somehow its complex structure has never felt gratuitous to me. And I do like the tune in part because the surprising modulations require non-diatonic, unexpected melodic turns, which grab my ear and attention. Quite unlike Lorde’s “Solar Power,” I’d say.

Or “Only In Dreams!” (besides that last glorious bass note)

How about Blabbermouth, the jerky doll for jerks?

No, Loudmouth Lisa! Stupid Lisa Garbage Face! I can’t stand this any longer. Somebody please pay attention to me! Hello, pay attention to me! Look at me!