Lorde returns after four years with “What Was That,” a hypnotic synth-pop anthem unveiled in a surprise Washington Square Park pop-up.
On April 24, 2025, Lorde broke her four-year musical silence with the release of “What Was That,” a shimmering synth-pop confession that teases the emotional terrain of her forthcoming fourth album.
The song was co-written with Jim-E Stack and co-produced by Stack alongside Daniel Nigro, whose slick production palette bathes Lorde’s introspective lyrics in neon glow. Its rollout blended guerrilla marketing with guerrilla filmmaking—beginning as a 15-second TikTok teaser and culminating in a surprise listening party in Washington Square Park that doubled as the official music video.
Lorde’s return was heralded by a brief TikTok clip—filmed among the park’s iconic arch—showing her cycling through rain-slicked pathways, earbuds in, as she mouthed the chorus to “What Was That.” That snippet exploded online, setting the stage for an impromptu listening party on April 22, when Lorde texted her fans: “Meet me in the park at 7 p.m.”.
Despite the NYPD shutting down the unsanctioned gathering for lack of permits, fans—from NYU students to lifelong listeners—turned disappointment into a communal sing-along, chanting her past hits until Lorde herself re-emerged after 9:30 p.m. to lip-sync the new track alongside Dev Hynes’s portable speaker setup.
Footage from that night, captured by photographer Talia Chetrit, now serves as the song’s official video, merging guerrilla marketing and guerrilla filmmaking into one unforgettable moment.
“What Was That” marks a clear sonic departure from the sun-soaked acoustica of Solar Power, embracing instead an airy, glittering electro-pop framework. Jim-E Stack’s drums, keyboards, and synths intertwine with Daniel Nigro’s bass and guitar lines, creating a warm, rhythmic bed over which Lorde’s voice floats—equal parts nostalgic and defiant.
Lyrically, the song is a masterclass in vivid understatement: the chorus—“Since I was seventeen, I gave you everything, now we wake from a dream, well baby what was that”—lands like an emotional grenade, its aftermath both intimate and universal.
Over the course of four studio albums, Lorde has evolved from the detached teen voice of Pure Heroine to the euphoric fatalism of Melodrama and the grounded serenity of Solar Power. “What Was That” feels like a bridge between those worlds—melding the raw lyricism of her breakup breakout with the pop-forward sheen of her collaborators’ best work.
It’s a song about looking back without nostalgia’s rose tint: the verses conjure late-night city walks, the pre-chorus whispers regrets, and the chorus snaps it all into crisp relief, asking both herself and her listeners to question the meaning of what they thought they knew.
By dropping “What Was That” on a Thursday—one day ahead of New Music Friday—Lorde has signaled a willingness to upend expectations and play by her own rules.
Industry insiders are already dubbing the coming months “Lorde Summer,” speculating that her fourth album will arrive with similar surprise tactics and cinematic flourishes.
If this single is any indication, her next chapter promises to marry pop-piercing clarity with deeply personal storytelling—reminding us that heartbreak is never neat, and Lorde is still the most fearless cartographer of its terrain.
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