New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde released a new single Thursday, complete with a music video and the announcement of her upcoming album “Melodrama.”
Out of nowhere last Monday, Feb. 27, Lorde tweeted the link “imwaitingforit.com” without any explanation. The website was plain black except for a short video in the center of the screen which showed Lorde sitting in a car while lyricless piano music played brightly in the background. Then a black screen came up with only “3.2.17 NY” and then “3.3.17 NZ” in white text.
Over last Tuesday and Wednesday, two more videos were displayed on the website one at a time, and fans speculated that the 20-year-old artist was hinting at the release of a new single.
Finally, the music video for “Green Light” took its place on the website starting Thursday, March 2, like the teasers seemed to have been hinting.
It has been four years since Lorde’s first full album, “Pure Heroine,” was released, and although no official release date has been announced, fans can relax knowing that “Melodrama” will be released sometime in the near future.
The new electro pop song that pendulums between the artist’s signature whispery vocals and poeticism into a building refrain and pre-chorus which breaks into the upbeat, radio-ready refrain.
The song is, admittedly, difficult to get into the first time. The shifts came out of nowhere and felt almost disjointed the first time I listened, but my sister Julie pointed out that, “Lorde songs are only ever good after a second listen,” and that held true for “Green Light”. Subsequent listens feel smooth and natural when I know when those shifts are coming.
“‘Green Light’ is officially out in the world, and i[sic] am so pleased to share with you that this song is the first from my sophomore record, Melodrama,” Lorde said in a post on Facebook and Instagram that coincided with the release.
The video supplements the song’s contrasting sounds, cutting between sequences of Lorde singing and dancing on a city street, in a limo and in a club filled with technicolored lights, among other locations.
Jack Antonoff, the lead singer and songwriter from the band Bleachers, produced and helped write ‘Green Light,’ and there are some elements reminiscent of the bright synths Antinoff uses in his own music.
Despite the somewhat happy feel of the music, the song’s lyrics are actually quite sad.
“This is that drunk girl at the party dancing around crying about her ex-boyfriend who everyone thinks is a mess, “Lorde said in an interview on Beats 1 Radio on Thursday. “That’s her tonight, and tomorrow she has to rebuild.”
Back in November, on the night before her 20th birthday, Lorde made a long post on Facebook about crossing over into adulthood and her excitement surrounding her upcoming album, which she had not announced the name of yet.
She wrote, “Writing Pure Heroine was my way of enshrining our teenage glory, putting it up in lights forever so that part of me never dies, and this record — well, this one is about what comes next.”
