Lorde seems to be gearing up to share some new music, but in an enigmatic Instagram post on Sunday (Dec. 18) the 27-year-old singer teasingly kept fans at arms-length when it came to sharing what’s on her playlist these days. Rocking a pair of AirPods Max and striped pajamas, the “Stoned at the Hair Salon” star shared a pair of pics in which she’s seemingly listening to something, staring at the camera in one and taking a selfie from above in the other with the tantalizing caption, “Listening to myself.”
Lorde has not released a new album since 2021’s Solar Power, her third full-length collection, though she did tease a pair of fresh tracks during a headlining gig at the Boardmasters Festival in the U.K. this summer; fans have speculated that the songs are called “Silver Moon” and “Invisible Ink.”
Before you get too amped up, though, the singer responded to a comment on the post, in which a fan gushed that “L4 SEASON IS UPON US. Lorde is TEASING NEW MUSIC on her Instagram post this is NOT a drill!!!!!!” The comment also claimed that the singer archived her Solar Power cover art from her feed and changed her profile pic.
Lorde — whose Insta feed only contains two pictures at the moment — responded to the comment, writing, “We’re not CLOSE close you guys… i’m just getting so hype n needed to let u know .. start ur excitement on a low flame and bring it up to a gentle simmer .. we building stamina for this chapter.”
In August Lorde also appeared to tease that the L4 era was ramping up, writing on Instagram alongside a post of her swimming in a green-lit pool. “These times are beautiful and they freak me out and there’s so much to tell you,” she said. “No this is not the start of anything out there, just want u to know there’s a light on inside me .. show it to you soon.”
Lorde typically keeps a low-profile between projects, but in September, she opened up to fans in a lengthy emotional letter, revealing that she’s “living with heartbreak again.” The note unveiled what she described as both emotional and physical pain she’s endured recently, explaining, “It’s different but the same. I ache all the time, I forget why and then remember. I’m not trying to hide from the pain, I understand now that pain isn’t something to hide from, that there’s actually great beauty in moving with it. But sometimes I’m sick of being with myself.”
The post did not touch on any news about her current professional endeavors, but instead focused on what she said was the “really inflamed’ status of her body and the long process of learning to listen to those warning signs. “It might seem funny or be easy to forget, but I make records because I need to,” she added. “The songs are spells; a spell to let go of something, a spell to unlock a door. Every time I put something into words just as I see it, set it to the right music, a knot comes loose in me. But it hurts too, confronting the knots.”
For fans always in search of a clue as to her next era, though, it ended on a potentially promising note. “I know I’m gonna look back on this year with fondness and a bit of awe, knowing it was the year that locked everything into place, the year that transitioned me from my childhood working decade to the one that comes next,” she said. “One that even through all this, I’m so excited for. It’s just hard when you’re in it.”
Check out Lorde’s post below.
