In anticipation of Solar Power being released to the world, Lorde has been doing the press rounds, telling Vogue how she’d like to collab with Harry Styles and getting so day-drunk with Seth Meyers that she needed an IV drip. Now, she’s taken on the infamous Hot Ones spicy wing challenge. 

Where other guests on the show have struggled and suffered through the progressively intense spice levels – like a recent sweating and tearing-up Ed Sheeran – the New Zealand pop powerhouse seemed almost completely unphased, calmly investigating the sauce ingredients and going in for more bites.

While chowing down on the spicy snacks with host Sean Evans, Lorde discussed the sanctity of pop. “I love writing a pop melody, there’s nothing better,” she said. “For it to be simple but secretly complex and to kind of trick the brain. You can’t fake it, it’s a real experience. That’s kind of what it is for me, that feeling of being able to talk to a lot of people, and to make something that’s kind of highbrow but can be enjoyed in really simple ways.”

Asked about her forthcoming record, she said she sees it “as a sun-worship album,” comparing it to the colour gold. “I’m not religious in any way, but my experiences in nature in the last couple years were as close to what I’ve experienced as religion. It was a sort of devotional record for me,” she added.

She also spoke about her use of cicada sounds in the songs, and how her album happened to occur the same year that eastern cicadas come up from the ground, an event that takes place every 17 years. “The last time it happened was in 2004, when I guess J.Lo and Ben Affleck were together, and now they’re back together,” she joked.

And, as the owner of an onion ring review Instagram, Lorde revealed her criteria for the perfect ring: “I want an onion that has been cut thickly. I want a pretty toothsome, vertical bite. I want a pretty crisp yet thick crust – I want it to have some substance. I guess I’d probably more be into a battered than a crumbed. I like a white onion, although I’ve had a few red onion rings that have caught my eye.” So there you go.

Watch her Hot Ones appearance below.