Charli xcx had a big impact on Lorde’s new album.
In an interview with BBC 1the “What Was That” singer — whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor — opened up about how her remix collaboration with the “Apple” artist for “Girl, so confusing” helped influence her new album Virgin.
“Brat coming out really gave me a kick in a lot of ways,” Lorde, 28, told host Jack Saunders. “It forced me to further define what I was doing because Charli had so masterfully defined everything about Brat, and I knew that what I was doing was very distinct to that.”
Lorde and Charli xcx in August 2014.
Kevin Mazur/MTV1415/WireImage
She added: “When a peer throws the gauntlet down like that, you’re like ‘OK, yeah, we’ve gotta pick it up’. I’ve spoken to a lot of peers who’ve all had the same feelings. It’s very sick and I’m so grateful to her.”
Lorde then revealed that she was writing “in this very naked way” and working on the remix with Charli, 32, helped her continue in that direction.
“Brat came out and she was doing that from the other side of the coin almost and doing the remix together and meeting her in that place of rugged vulnerability and cracking open the thing,” she said. “People responded really well to that – I was like ‘OK, cool, this is a good thing to be doing’.”
“Girl, so confusing,” which was released in June 2024, details Charli’s conflicting feelings about Lorde.
In a May 2024 interview with Rolling Stone UK, the “365” musician said, “I was super jealous of the success that (“Royals”) got, and that Ella got.”
Before her album Brat came out, she called the “Green Light” hitmaker about the song, but she’d already heard it
“She was like, ‘I can guess which one it is.’ And so I was like, ‘F—.’ But she was so cool, and I was like … We sent these voice notes back and forth,” Charli told Apple Music 1.
According to the “Von Dutch” artist, the remix was all Lorde’s idea.
“She was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I did this response?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, my God. I can’t believe this is happening. Yes.’ And it was so quick,” she told host Zane Lowe. “I mean, she said that on I think the Friday, and she sent me the thing, the verse by Monday.”
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Lorde in 2025.
Thistle Brown
On Weds., April 30, Lorde announced her first new album in four years, Virgin.
She shared an Instagram post of the album cover, which appears to be a pelvic X-Ray with a zipper down the center.
“Virgin,” she captioned the post.
Lorde’s new album is due June 27.
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