The title track for Lorde’s upcoming album, Solar Power, arrived alongside a summery video back in June, which featured the singer dancing with her pals on the beach. However, new live visuals see her performing the track in a very different setting: a stormy rooftop in New York.
Following a dreamy rendition of the track from the roof of NYC’s Ed Sullivan Theater, the new “Solar Power” performance takes place atop the city’s Electric Lady Studios, on a not-so-sunny day.
“Is it dangerous to be up here with lightning?” asks the track’s producer (and longtime Lorde collaborator) Jack Antonoff, who plays electric guitar alongside her stripped-back vocal performance.
Lorde elaborates on the weather conditions in one of her regular email newsletters. “We had plans to do a handful of songs but the fine warm day became a large storm, and we got through one take of ‘Solar Power’ and had to tap out for fear of electrocution,” she writes. “Picked it back up the next day.”
Another, sunnier rendition has also been uploaded to YouTube, to accompany the stormy performance. “I love both,” Lorde adds.
Solar Power is set to arrive in full on August 20, and is also preceded by the single “Stoned at the Nail Salon”, featuring Phoebe Bridgers and Clairo. On a recent promotional run, Lorde discussed the new record while calmly working her way through a selection of insanely spicy wings on Hot Ones, and got so day-drunk with Seth Meyers that she needed an IV drip.
Watch both “Solar Power” performances with Jack Antonoff below.