Lorde Updates Fans on New Music, Says It’s “So Fucking Good”

The last time Lorde shared an update with fans about new music, she revealed that the death of her beloved dog Pearl had affected the timetable of her new album. Today, she published a newsletter that revealed that work is well underway on the follow-up to 2017’s Melodrama. “The work is so fucking good, my friend,” she wrote. “I am truly jazzed for you to hear it.”

“I started going back to the studio again in December, just for something to do, and to my surprise, good things came out,” she wrote. “Happy, playful things.” She wrote that she recorded with her Melodrama collaborator Jack Antonoff in Auckland and Los Angeles. “It flowed. A thing started to take shape. And then, of course, the world shut down. We’re still working away—Jack and I FaceTimed for over an hour this morning going over everything. But it’ll take a while longer.”

Lorde also said that while she “wasn’t sure” if she’d tour ever again, she’s excited about the possibility of performing, making videos, conducting interviews, and getting back out on the road. “I know now how excited I am to get back out there,” she wrote. “I want to eat summer foods in beautiful countries—ice cream and tomatoes and anchovies. I want to use my gift, and watch it grow. Who knows when it’ll be safe to do those things, but I’m craving them, and I wanted you to know.”

She also addressed fans writing her begging for new material. “I understand— I want nothing more than to feed you treats, pop perfect morsels straight into your little mouths,” she wrote. “But as I get older I realise there’s something to be said for the pleasant feeling of waiting for something of quality to become available to you. You could have something of lesser quality much faster, but as the high quality thing comes into fruition, a warm feeling grows inside you. Do you know what I mean?” She continued:

I get this feeling when I make bread, or put my seedlings in after the
last frost, or even when I wait for a particular package to arrive.
Waiting, the thing that felt so pointless and annoying when I was
young, is now this kind of delicious activity. In my opinion, the
greatest treat I can give you is work that will last ten, twenty,
thirty years. And that kind of work takes time. So if you can, I’d
like for you to try tuning in to the time spent waiting for something
of the highest quality to arrive. Enjoy the sensation as it builds.
When the moment comes, our wave will crest super fucking high.

I can tell you, this new thing, it’s got its own colours now. If you
know anything about my work, you’ll know what that means.

Read about Lorde on Pitchfork’s list of “The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s.”