By Katie Nelson

Center Editor

Revered singer-songwriter Lorde surprised fans with her sudden reappearance on the music stage. Her release of videos on TikTok, along with guest appearances and spontaneous concerts, have thrilled crowds and excited her fans for the upcoming “Lorde Summer.”

The New Zealand songwriter released her debut EP, The Love Club, in early 2013, and her first studio album, Pure Heroine, later that same year. The album took off with the song Royals topped the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for nine consecutive weeks, making it one of the best selling singles of all time. Since then, Lorde has produced many more hit songs across two albums: Melodrama, released in 2017, and Solar Power, released in 2021. Since then, she’s remained relatively quiet in the music industry, with minimal social media presence.

 However, that changed on Apr. 9 when Lorde released a video on TikTok of her walking through Washington Square Park in New York, lip syncing a clip of a new song titled What Was That. Despite it being her very first video on TikTok, it’s gotten over 36 million views and sparked interest everywhere. Following the creation of her TikTok account, she created an Instagram account two days later that has now gained 11.1 million followers thus far. The minimalistic and eccentric content posted on these platforms has enraptured millions of people. Her profile photo on both social media platforms is a dented, metallic water bottle rather than normative perfected portraits many celebrities use. Her reappearance has led to a revival of many of her songs, which have swept social media as top trending audios for TikTok and Instagram clips. 

On Apr. 22, Lorde made a guest appearance in Washington Park Square after blasting an email and text message out earlier that day: “Meet me in the park. Tonight 7pm.” Fans didn’t need to be told which park,  as hundreds gathered at the New York City square. Before 7:00 PM, Lorde announced that the show would not proceed, as the gathering did not have a permit and local officials asked the crowd to disperse. However, many remained at the square dancing along to and enjoying Lorde’s music playing on a speaker, hoping for Lorde to appear. Around 8:00 PM, about a dozen officers entered the crowd and pulled the plug on the music while asking everyone to leave. The crowd was disappointed but unfazed, and moments later the music was blaring again, and fans were walking through the streets of New York City to their own little concert. Around 8:30 PM, those who came back to the park or stuck around nearby received the mini-concert of a lifetime: Lorde emerged and sang What Was That for a smaller but equally elated crowd. 

Lorde released the new single What Was That two days after the impromptu gathering, and she also made an appearance at Coachella as one of the guest singers at Charlie XCX’s concert. Her summer album, Virgin, is expected to come out on Jun. 27. Given that this is Lorde’s first album in four years, her fans are especially anxious as they await the next set of incredible songs. 

(Sources: Billboard, Genius, New York Times, Vox)