If she didn’t have a permit to perform in Washington Square Park, then Lorde knows she probably didn’t have a permit to film there. Nevertheless, Lorde’s chaotic Tuesday evening event in New York City has now been immortalized in the music video for her new song “What Was That.” Like that Washington Square Park adventure, the video shares a spirit of spontaneity and immediacy as lo-fi cameras follow the pop star around (and even under) the city. “As little between us as possible,” Lorde posted on social media to share the video. “Aliveness over prowess. Naïveté over disenchantment. I LOVE YOU WE START HERE.”
Contrary to rumors—and Dev Hynes’ appearance at the Washington Square event—Blood Orange is not a producer on “What Was That.” (Chances are he’ll crop up somewhere else on the new album.) Instead, Lorde has replaced one buzzy pop girl producer (Jack Antonoff, her main collaborator for her previous two records) with another: Dan Nigro, the mastermind behind Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan’s ascents. Nigro co-produced “What Was That” with Lorde and Jim E-Stack, who has worked with the likes of Bon Iver, HAIM, and Charli xcx. Lorde listed the credits for the propulsive track on her website, including guitarist Andrew Aged.
“What Was That” is a synthy, syncopated tune that hews closer to the electro-pop of her first album, Pure Heroine, than the softer, more earthy songs of 2021’s Solar Power. The eccentric breakup bop also recalls the ecstatic heartbreak of Melodrama‘s lead single “Green Light,” a track pop guru Max Martin described at the time as “incorrect songwriting.” Describing “What Was That” on her website, Lorde wrote:
“LATE 2023. BACK IN NEW YORK. DEEP BREAKUP. STOPPING BIRTH CONTROL. EVERY MEAL A BATTLE. FLASHBACKS AND WAVES. FEELING GRIEF’S VORTEX AND LETTING IT TAKE ME. OPENING MY MOUTH AND RECORDING WHAT FELL OUT. JIMMY SHOUTING IN THE BACKGROUND. A THOUSAND HOURS OF AUDIO EMBROIDERY. DAN TELLING US WHERE THE MOOG BASS SHOULD GO. ANDREW GIVING IT TEETH. THE NIGHT WE FINALLY GOT THE DRUMS RIGHT. THE SOUND OF MY REBIRTH.”
Dedicated Lorde fans will recognize in this description (and in “What Was That”) threads from an e-mail to fans she wrote in 2023, where she wrote about trying to listen to her body and dropping a medication she’d been on for more than a decade. “I’m living with heartbreak again. It’s different but the same. I ache all the time, I forget why and then remember. I’m not trying to hide from the pain, I understand now that pain isn’t something to hide from, that there’s actually great beauty in moving with it,” she wrote in part. “I go online and look at everyone. Beautiful people sing to me. Everyone’s gotten really good at the same thing. … Everyone looks very thin. Just thinking that makes me feel tired and far away. I’m not sure if it’s having an effect on anyone else. I keep spending money, wondering if what’s in the package will make me feel right, but I guess I buy the wrong things.”
The e-mail concluded, “Hope you’re taking care of yourself. Don’t worry about me, I still laugh every day, it’s all moving, even when it goes slow. I’ve accepted the mission — I have a self to recover.”
