Lorde is a busy woman. She's been promoting her smash-hit debut album – featuring the No. 1 hit "Royals" – for the better part of two years while trying to write new material and curate the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1.
One day before her Friday performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago, the 17-year-old sat down with USA Today to discuss her whirlwind career.
"I changed a lot, because in the last 16, 17 months, all the music I've been listening to has changed a lot," she said. "Just like lots more music, lots more different music – I'm seeking out music that's difficult to listen to as opposed to just listening to fun (stuff) all the time, which I think affects you as a writer."
The big recent news has been her handling of the Hunger Games soundtrack. The news that Lorde (given name: Ella Yelich-O'Connor) received that responsibility leaked two days ago, and while she won't say who she's already reached out to, she was eager to talk about the tone of the music.
"Sonically, I had a very specific thing that I had tapped into when writing the single and I was listening to a bunch of different references that were all kind of the same vibe. So I knew musically exactly the kind of viewpoint that I wanted," she said.
"You're always going to tap into something that you didn't with your own music –– you know, it's quite a specific state of mind. All the characters are in quite a special kind of headspace, so I think you can kind of hear that in the song. But it was important to me that it stood apart from the film as well, like it would be a single that I'd release, and I think it works."
After her impressive Lolla set, Lorde will head out on her third North American tour starting Aug. 5. She'll try to balance the road with songwriting for her heavily anticipated sophomore album.
"I've been writing a bunch for all different kinds of purposes and all different voices and not necessarily just my vibe," she said. "And I think the album will take a second, for me to get out of this headspace and, like, start attacking that."
Here are the upcoming tour dates:
09/05: Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center
09/06: Boston, MA @ Boston Calling
09/07: Lewiston, NY @ Artpark
09/11: Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Folk Fest
09/12: Toronto, ON @ TD Echo Beach
09/14: New York, NY @ Pier 91
09/15: New York, NY @ United Palace Theater
09/16: New York, NY @ United Palace Theater
09/18: Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Ampitheater
09/22: Nashville, TN @ Grand Ole Opry House
09/23: Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion
09/24: Cleveland, OH @ Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
09/26: Milwaukee, WI @ BMO Harris Pavilion
09/27: Councils Bluff, IA @ Harrah's Casino, Stir Grove
09/28: Broomfield, CO @ 1st Bank Center
09/30: Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint
10/02: Berkley, CA @ The Greek
10/06: Berkley, CA @ The Greek
10/09: Santa Barba, CA @ Santa Barba Bowl
10/10: San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theater
10/12: Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
