It finally happened. We got a new Lorde song.
After rampant social media speculation, followed by a new era-signaling website update, the world has been rewarded with the official release of “Solar Power.”
The track features background vocals from Clairo and Phoebe Bridgers, with previous Lorde collaborator Jack Antonoff—the prolific producer and songwriter who has a new album on the way under his Bleachers moniker—also listed in the credits. As many fans predicted, the song sees Lorde making a departure from the sound that defined her acclaimed Melodrama era.
Stream “Solar Power” below via Spotify and Apple Music, and check out the video up top.
Later this month, the aforementioned Melodrama—the follow-up to Lorde’s globally ubiquitous debut Pure Heroine—marks its fourth anniversary. The album arrived in the summer of 2017, preceded by the Antonoff-assisted single “Green Light,” and was ultimately nominated for Album of the Year at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. Melodrama also landed among Complex’s ranking of the year’s best albums.
The writing and recording of new music post-Melodrama is believed to have been in progress for some time now. Back in April of last year, for example, Lorde spoke briefly on the topic of new music during an appearance on the New Zealand radio station The Edge.
“It’s definitely too soon for me to talk about anything,” she said at the time. “But I will say that it’s been a very productive year.”
The following month, Lorde said in a newsletter to fans that the music she had been working on was “so fucking good.” As “Solar Power” shows, that was accurate.
Following the release of “Solar Power,” Lorde shared a letter to her fans that her next album goes by the same name.
