Lorde unveils video for comeback single ‘What Was That’
New Zealand singer-songwriter and alt-pop star Lorde has unveiled the new video to accompany her unreleased comeback single, ‘What Was That’.
Through a sprawling urban backdrop shot in a home-video style in New York, Lorde sings along to her song on large headphones, strutting through grey streets. Eventually, she throws the headphones in a street bin and races away on a bike, the camera eager to follow.
The video is interspersed with footage of Lorde directly singing to the camera in front of a darker backdrop.
The clip also includes footage from her surprise appearance in Washington Square Park, New York, where Lorde told fans to congregate on social media. However, the event was shut down by police due to overcrowding until Lorde returned two hours later.
Notable lyrics from Lorde’s ‘What Was That’ include: “I’m missing you/ And all the things we used to do/ MDMA in the back garden, blow our pupils up/ We kissed for hours straight but baby, what was that?/ I remember saying then/ This is the best cigarette of my life/ Well I want you just like that.”
Lorde co-wrote ‘What Was That’ with Jim-E Stack, who also co-produced it with her alongside Daniel Nigro. Jim-E Stack provided drums, keyboards, piano, synthesizer, and engineering, while Nigro contributed bass and electric guitar, piano, synthesizer, and engineering. Inc. No World’s Andrew Aged also plays electric guitar on the track.
‘What Was That’ is set to appear on her fourth studio album, which is yet to be given a title or release date. Lorde’s last release was the 2021 album Solar Power, which followed on from Melodrama in 2017 and her debut Pure Heroine in 2013.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.