"What Was That" Lorde

She has risen! The champion of 2010’s pop has finally returned back into the music scene, and it’s needless to say that she won’t be going away anytime soon. (We hope.) In advance of the announcement of her fourth studio album, Virgin, Lorde dropped a fifteen-second clip on TikTok with a preview of the song. Fans went crazy in the comment section of the video, reinstating Lorde as the reigning queen of her genre.

Like many of Lorde's most beloved songs, this first single, “What Was That,” is about looking back on a time in your life where you felt blindsided by a lover, and are left questioning what to do with yourself after such a formative experience. From dropping acid to dancing in the rain, Lorde confronts the whirlwind of emotions that come along with wistfully looking back at a torrid but memorable love affair. “MDMA in the back garden / blow our pupils up / We kissed for hours straight / well, baby, what was that?”

Without feeling disingenuous, the first single, “What Was That” is yet another masterclass at what Lorde does best: juxtaposing electronic and experimental pop production with innovative and vulnerable lyricism, as Lorde continues the tradition of wearing her heart on her sleeve. The track feels like it would be straight out of her highly acclaimed Pure Heroine or even Melodrama, while still adding fresh and new zests of current life that keep Lorde relevant over a decade after her initial debut. I think I can speak for myself and all of Lorde’s fans when I say that I cannot wait to hear what else Lorde has loaded in her arsenal for 2025.