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Returning to the stage in the desert is anything but soothing. Yet, performing before a delirious crowd is incredibly invigorating. On April 12, 2025, the hallowed first Saturday of Coachella, Lorde, absent from the star system for four years, reappears on the set of Charli XCX, the hyper-pop firebrand headlining the festival. A momentous performance that coincides with the announcement of her first single in four years.
The circle is complete. To the cheers of thousands of fans, nostalgic for the sweet brat summer they experienced with the British artist’s phenomenal album, her New Zealand frenemy offered a taste of her return. Together, they performed “Girl, so confusing,” the flagship track from Brat that became an internet sensation. Charli XCX, the imperfect rebel with a talented temperament, initially introduced the song in the summer of 2024 as an open letter to the painful confusion that has long pitted the two young women against each other, whose artistic breakthroughs—Charli XCX with I Love It in 2012, Lorde with Royals in 2013—overlap and whose hair is often indistinguishable. Toxic comparison, protective hypocrisy, and identity distinction are addressed in the song, creating a perfect harmony of honest lyrics and disjointed sounds.
In response to this personal introspection, which instantly became an anthem of ambiguous sisterhood , Lorde features on the remix. The collaboration is unexpected and its symbolism iconic. A viral release that helps solidify Charli XCX’s creative arrogance and raises awareness of Lorde’s return, absent from streaming platforms since 2021. Now, the world is ready, Lorde included, to welcome her musical comeback.
Back to basics
Oh Lorde. A week ago, the first hint of this new heartfelt cry, titled WWT, short for What Was That, surfaced on TikTok. The singer is entering a new era , seemingly without effort, with a raw nonchalance and an androgynous look that reflects the poetic minimalism she has always applied to her music. When she left us four years ago with Solar Power, her luminous third album, she opened up new perspectives for the teenager of Pure Heroine (2013) and Melodrama (2017), focused on her existence, a life of romantic wanderings and alcohol-fueled rage. A gaze turned outward, from her soothing native New Zealand, but also, inevitably, toward the world’s anxiety-ridden atmosphere and its wounds.
Lorde’s work has always been thoughtful, marked by a deliberate vulnerability, courageous introspection, and consistently acclaimed prose. So, after writing the next chapter, the artist took her time. A pause to reconnect with herself and offer her most authentic self, with a refreshing and unadorned portrait as the cover of her upcoming single, “What Was That,” and who knows, perhaps even her next album. To outline its contours, she writes in capital letters, “The themes are always the same,” and lists “the return to innocence, the mysteries of blood, the thirst for transcendence .” The first excerpt declares with conviction: “Since I was seventeen, I gave you everything,” suggesting that the wounded young woman of “Royals” is not far removed. Moreover, she returns with ten years of experience under her belt and the confidence of an older sister within herself.