Lorde Joyfully Crashes Into Her Next Chapter
“Green Light,” the comeback single for the inventive pop star, is an upbeat announcement of change.
Halt, English students! Lorde’s “Green Light” is not about The Great Gatsby, probably. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s green light represented the unreachable wonderful past; Lorde’s is a street signal granting permission to zip ahead to the future.
People have been waiting for Lorde’s future for, announced the then-16-year-old New Zealander as one of the most fascinating new names in pop with sleek, skeletal arrangements, a raspy voice, and a young-and-hungry-but-wise lyrical sensibility. The routine that won her a No. 1 hit with “Royals” has been swiped by other singers in recent years, but the imitators seem lightweight, fake, next to her.
