Lorde announces long-awaited third album with title-track "Solar Power"

Yesterday (10 June) Lorde was rumoured to return with her first new single in four years, "Solar Power", and it turned out to be true.

Last night, Lorde unveiled the uplifting new song with its accompanying video directed by Joel Kefali and Lorde, and also told fans in a newsletter that her long-awaited third album is also titled Solar Power.

In the newsletter, Lorde wrote of her comeback single, "It’s about that infectious, flirtatious summer energy that takes hold of us all, come June (or December, if you’re a Southern Hemisphere baby like me but I know that’s literally IMPOSSIBLE for you all to wrap your little heads around so don’t worry about it!!)."

The new single, co-written and co-produced by Jack Antonoff, also featuures backing vocals from Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo.

Lorde wrote of Solar Power in the newsletter, "There’s someone I want you to meet.
 Her feet are bare at all times. She’s sexy, playful, feral, and free. She’s a modern girl in a deadstock bikini, in touch with her past and her future, vibrating at the highest level when summer comes around. Her skin is glowing, her lovers are many. I’m completely obsessed with her, and soon you will be too.
 It’s my divine pleasure to be introducing you, at long last, to my third studio album, SOLAR POWER."

"The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalising the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors," Lorde continued. "In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learnt to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through."

Although Lorde didn't provide a release date for her follow-up to 2017's Melodrama, she did tell fans that "You can look to the natural calendar for clues." Lorde added, "I’m trying to listen to what’s out there more, and the vibe I got was that you’re ready for this, that you need it. I want this album to be your summer companion, the one you pump on the drive to the beach. The one that lingers on your skin like a tan as the months get cooler again."

Last month Lorde was confirmed as a headliner for one of the nights on the second weekend of Primavera Sound 2022.