Lorde Returns with ‘What Was That’, Her First Original Single Since 2021
Lorde debuted the track at New York’s Washington Square Park.
Image Talia Chetrit
Kiwi pop princess Lorde is back with ‘What Was That’, her first original single since 2021.
Simultaneously euphoric and nostalgic, Lorde builds on her last body of work with an ecstatic, night out on the town type of barnburner referencing heartbreak, MDMA and late nights.
After spending the past week teasing fans with cryptic posts and snippets of the song on social media, Lorde arranged to perform ‘What Was That’ live at New York’s Washington Square Park, but her appearance was cancelled by the police due to the size of the crowd that showed up.
After several hours most of the crowd had dispersed and Lorde finally showed up and sang along to the song as it was played through speakers in the park, with footage from the event included in the music video for ‘What Was That’, which you can watch below.
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Lorde co-wrote ‘What Was That’ with hitmaker Jim-E Stack (Bon Iver, Charli XCX), who also co-produced the song along with Daniel Nigro.
As reported by Stereogum, Lorde sent a voice memo to fans on Wednesday (April 23) calling ‘What Was That’ “one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written, ever produced.”
The release of the single follows Lorde’s 2024 cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Take Me to the River’ for A24’s Talking Heads tribute album and her summer remix of Charli XCX’s ‘Girl, So Confusing’ that appeared on Brat but it’s completely different but also still brat.
Stream Lorde’s ‘What Was That’ here.
