Lorde has reflected on her rise to fame at the age of 16 with her 2013 studio debut album, Pure Heroine, saying it felt like people wanted to “drink her youth”.
In a new interview with the Sunday Times, the Kiwi singer described her explosion onto the music scene as “not normal”.
“It’s not normal. My first single was so huge — I thought, ‘This just happens.’ I remember, over and over, the sensation of feeling like people wanted to drink my youth,” Lorde told the publication.
“Some elixir! People were like, ‘Give it to me!’ I felt, ‘God, this is about you.’ I was aware of what my youth was doing to people, but I just wanted to be really good [at music].”
Now 23 and having released her latest record Solar Power, Lorde says she has matured since her debut release.
“I have grown so much in the years since I became famous,” she said.
“A lot of my school friends describe me as a mum, or grandma. I’m their old lady friend. But the thing about my job is that I get to play. So, in a way, you are immortalised. Friends leave that sandbox; I will always be kind of a child because of what I do.”
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Lorde went on to say that finding fame at a young age was “a really interesting thing to happen,” adding that “it gets tricky for people if they find the experience super-validating if they feel it’s giving them fuel.”
“For me, I was always a little suspicious of it, or sure it would go away. I am significantly less famous than I was when I was 16, but that’s exactly how I like it,” she said.
“I’m not getting my validation from it.”
It comes a few days after the singer-songwriter reached out to her fellow New Zealanders on Friday as they headed back into level 4 restrictions after another COVID outbreak in the community.
“What a fucking shitter,” she said in her newsletter. “This thing just doesn’t end. I hope you’re safe, and with people who don’t drive you up the wall. I hope you’re having some spirited household chats about what’s for lunch/dinner. Someone better have done some baking.”
The ‘Mood Ring’ singer explained that she was “sweltering” in New York as she promoted her new album, saying she felt “weird” not being in the motherland during these uncertain times.
“I feel sensitive and fragile, like a little Christmas ornament. Releasing shit is always scary, I’m scared of being misunderstood, and I really want the album to be what you want or need,” Lorde said.
“I’ve been zipping round all day doing press and rehearsals, and my mind goes back to you twenty times a day. Friends send updates, but it’s weird not being there right now.”
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Check out ‘Mood Ring’ by Lorde:
