The wait is finally over and timed with the solar eclipse as Lorde released her new single “Solar Power” with an accompanying music video and announced her highly anticipated third album of the same name. “Solar Power” is a place for high-powered talent to kick back and is co-wrote by Lorde and co-produced with Jack Antonoff. The drums are by esteemed session player Matt Chamberlain; the backing vocalists include Clairo and Phoebe Bridgers. More importantly, “Solar Power” is a featherweight, full of air. Unfortunately, Lorde’s got “no shirt, no shoes” and no service because she chucked her phone in the ocean.
“The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors,” Lorde wrote in her newsletter. “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.” She added: “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.” This is a follow-up to the great and by now possibly dimly remembered album, “Melodrama," released four years ago this week.