One of the most-anticipated comeback efforts of 2021, Lorde ’s Solar Power LP debuts at No. 5 this week on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The set moves 56,000 equivalent album units in its first week, including 34,000 in album sales. Though the first-week numbers are solid, they’re down from Lorde’s prior album, 2017’s Melodrama , which bowed atop the Billboard 200 with 109,000 units moved. And while Melodrama was met with rapturous critical reception, leading to a Grammy nomination for album of the year, the response to Solar Power has been a little more mixed thusfar. Is the lower-key response to Solar Power fair? And how likely is Lorde to return to the top 40? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below. 1. Solar Power debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 56,000 equivalent album units moved — her lowest bow on the chart to date, and down from the No. 1 debut and 109,000 units of Melodrama’s ...