After days of cryptic posts and one near-riot in a public park, Lorde has finally delivered—and yes, she brought the chaos with her.
The new single “What Was That” just dropped alongside a video that feels like an unfiltered reel of Lorde’s brain at 3 a.m. Co-produced by Jim-E Stack and Dan Nigro (the hitmaker behind Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan), the track swerves between dreamy and unhinged, equal parts lost-in-your-headphones and don’t-text-your-ex anthem.
But it’s the video that’s already breaking timelines.
Shot around New York City, Lorde drifts through the streets and pedals past bodegas like some anti-pop prophet in a shiny, barely-there bikini. The footage is fragmented and unpredictable—kind of like her rollout. One clip includes grainy footage from a now-infamous teaser event at Washington Square Park, where she announced a “pop-up performance” then ghosted for two hours as the crowd ballooned. When she finally emerged, she danced to a pre-recorded track like nothing ever happened.
It’s giving: performance art, delay trauma, and one very Lorde-style middle finger to the conventional music video format.
Watch the full video below:
“What Was That” isn’t just a song—it’s a mood swing. And Lorde knows exactly what she’s doing.
Genuine chaos or calculated art? Watch it, then tell us: is Lorde trolling us—or are we just too late to the party again?
