Billboard notes that last night, a cryptic spot played on New Zealand television, advertising…something of Lorde’s – though what that thing is wasn’t revealed. They predicted that the spot — which sees Lorde drinking a soda in the back of a car, whose driver is also drinking a soda — could be teasing the first single for an upcoming album.
The ad was quickly shared — in home video form (which certainly contributes to the tinny, elevator music vibes the music has) — on Twitter. It ends with an abrupt cut to a dark, silent screen, which reads, “3.2.17 NYC” and “3.3.17 NZ”; sure, this could mean the date of the next single, or could, as the New Zealand Herald suggests, be the release date for that very anticipated second album’s release. (This would seem a more likely cause for a TV ad.)
That publication points out that her Twitter account has undergone a change, as the social media accounts of artists who’re trying to look sneaky in advance of a release often do. Her subheading reads, “I hope the next is joyful, and I hope never to return,” which seems to speak to the theme of her next album, since the 20-year-old musician previously stated that it explores the first phase of adult life, after Pure Heroine “enshrin[ed] our teenage glory, putting it up in lights forever so that part of [her] never dies.”
Last November, she teased:
Lorde will be playing SNL on March 11 (with Scarlett Johansson hosting), and as Spin mentions, “it’s rare that a guest comes to Saturday Night Live without any new material.”
She recently also teased collaborations on the album with Bleachers’/fun.’s Jack Antonoff:
Watch a recording of the NZ TV spot: