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You likely know at least one of Lorde’s songs. Do you hear “And we’ll never be royals (royals)” running through your head? Or you may know her exclusively from the entertainment pop star status she achieved during her album’s ensuing global success. She’s even made her way into Taylor Swift’s girl squad.
But three years after the release of her 2013 debut record “Pure Heroine,” the question remains: When is Lorde’s next album coming out? Sure, a few singles have dropped from the “Hunger Games'” 2013 and 2014 soundtracks and Disclosure’s “Caracal,” but that isn’t enough to quench the public’s thirst for Lorde’s music.
What we do know is that a second album is on the way. We just don’t know when.
It’s not only unnamed sources speculating about a new release, Lorde herself has posted pictures of her and others working in the studio. As early as December 2013, she claimed to be writing new material that would reach the studio by the end of 2014. And by mid-2014 she explained that the new album would sound totally different, reflecting her growth as an artist and as an woman experiencing the world differently.
In this same interview, though, she noted that the album was still definitively in its early stages. On New Year’s Eve this year she tweeted a minor development on the record, “Whispered the album name to my mum in the car today.”
So, what’s the hold-up? Well, there are a few potential explanations.
One possibility is that she’s experiencing the sophomore jitters (or worse, slump) that many artists before her have faced. Think of Frank Ocean’s triumphant comeback to the music scene just this August, but only after a four year hiatus. Like Ocean, Lorde’s first album was a chart-topping hit, receiving acclaim from critics and the general audience alike.
After the success of her first foray into LP-making, Lorde must feel a great deal of pressure to deliver the same quality of music to her listeners on a follow-up endeavor. In this pursuit for perfection, the whole album could have even been scrapped or reworked significantly – a la Kanye’s “The Life of Pablo,” anyone?
Similarly, yet conversely, the debut album was such a success, and the monetary and non-material profits reaped were so notable that Lorde could have no real pressure to hurry along this second pass. She could be taking her sweet time, perfecting the sound mixing, accumulating popular featured artists or finishing the writing and recording processes.
There is another, less content-oriented possibility that Lorde could also be facing legal issues holding her back from releasing the album. Lorde and Scott McLachlan, her old manager, went their separate ways in 2015 and depending on their contract, Lorde might owe McLachlan a certain amount of the ongoing profit. Depending on the legal arrangements, Lorde may be trying to wait for whatever clause is in the contract to expire so that she can be the one making money off her second album.
In either case, we don’t blame Lorde for waiting to drop her long-awaited sophomore album. We can only hope that it happens soon, and that it lives up to the hype the delay has generated.
