“The pope may have died but Lorde has risen” is a statement that’s been cropping up again and again underneath YouTube, TikTok and X posts over the past few days. There’s been a buzz around Lorde’s return to music for several weeks now, hyped up with cryptic Instagram posts and the official announcement of her new single “What Was That”, which finally dropped today (unpredictably, a day before the typical New Music Friday). 

The track is the New Zealand-born singer’s first original solo single in four years, and – if the turnout at her viral Washington Square Park set is anything to go by – the people are ready for it. Today (April 24), she’s not only released the single, but an accompanying video, which seemingly documents her journey to the Washington Square Park gig. Lorde is filmed stomping and biking through New York City, before reaching her final destination, surrounded by fans atop a podium in the park. 

“She was literally filming this before showing up to Washington Park, that’s why she was so late,” wrote one fan under the YouTube comments. Fans are also suggesting that this may be a sister video to her 2017 single “Green Light”, which follows the singer twirling through the streets of LA. That said, the new video is notably less polished and deliberately so, edited together in less than 48 hours. “No fancy editing, no fancy clothes, no makeup, just pure Lorde’s magic,” reads another YouTube comment. 

The 28-year-old has been teasing “What Was That” since releasing a 15-second snippet earlier this month, followed by the single artwork – her face, dripping with water – and the simple message ‘My new song What Was That. Out soon. Shot by Talia Chetrit’.

Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange) was amongst commenters, sparking rumours that he may have worked on Lorde’s upcoming music. He added fuel to the fire when he played the new single on a portable speaker prior to Lorde’s appearance at Washington Square Park (she arrived at roughly 9:30pm, after police had attempted to shut it down). Despite Hynes’ support, the new single is produced by Jim-E Stack (who has worked with Charli xcx, Bon Iver and Caroline Polacheck) as well as Dan Nigro (Sky Ferreira, Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan). 

At Coachella last weekend, after Lorde joined Charli xcx on stage to perform the “Girl, so confusing” remix, she declared that it would be “Lorde summer 2025!” Could she be right? We hope so. For now at least, it definitely feels like a Lorde spring.