As if we aren’t still unscrambling from the first big release of Lorde’s since 2013 when she threw the beat-bouncing “Green Light” into the world, now, she’s slowed it down and opened up with the next track, “Liability”.

More stripped back, it’s another glimpse at her upcoming sophomore album Melodrama, throwing back to the bare bones vocals of previous Lorde records. The New Zealand-hailing singer spoke to Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 Show, calling it “starkly truthful”.

“I’m really proud of this bit of songwriting. I feel like I got somewhere they hadn’t been before, which is always a nice feeling as a songwriter,” she said. “It’s interesting because I had this realisation that because of my lifestyle and what I do for work there’s going to be a point with every single person around me where I’m gonna be attacks on them in some way. If it is having to give up a little portion of their privacy or their life becoming more difficult or whatever. It was just this moment of sadness and I remember it so vividly.”

The artist also described how she was inspired by Rihanna’s “Higher”, listening to it alone in a cab after ANTI had been released. “I had a little cry and I was just like, ‘It’s always going to be this way, at some point with everyone it’s going to be this way’. But the song kind of ended up turning into a bit of a protective talisman for me. I was like, you know what, I’m always gonna have myself so I have to really nurture this relationship and feel good about hanging out with myself and loving myself.”

“And the tone of the melody, the way it kind of falls around, it’s almost like it’s kind of drunk or it sort of leans around, it’s got this hip-hop cadence to it.”

Lorde also talked to Lowe about one of her major inspirations, Kate Bush, as well as her songwriting process and the struggles of fame as a teenager.

The singer also confirmed a date for her upcoming album Melodrama: June 16. In the meantime, listen to “Liability” and her interview on Beats 1 below.