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Jul 21, 2021 By Mark Redfern Photography by Ophelia Mikkelson Jones

New Zealand singer/songwriter Lorde is releasing a new album, Solar Power, on August 20 via Republic. Now she has shared its second single, “Stoned At the Nail Salon,” which features backing vocals from Phoebe Bridgers, Clairo, Marlon Williams, and James Milne. In the song Lorde sings some lines perhaps directed at her younger fans—such as “‘Cause all the music you loved at sixteen you’ll grow out of” and “Spend all the evenings you can with the people who raised you.” But then she dismisses such deep statements, singing: “I don’t know/Maybe I’m just stoned at the nail salon/Maybe I’m just stoned at the nail salon again.” Listen below.

Lorde had this to say about “Stoned At the Nail Salon” in a press release: “This song is sort of a rumination on getting older, settling into domesticity, and questioning if you’ve made the right decisions. I think lots of people start asking those questions of themselves around my age, and it was super comforting to me writing them down, hoping they’d resonate with others too. I used this song as a dumping ground for so many thoughts…”

Lorde will perform the song tonight on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Previously Lorde shared the album’s title track, “Solar Power,” via a video for it.

Of the album as a whole, Lorde says: “The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors. In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.”

Solar Power will not be released on CD due to environmental concerns. Instead it will be put out via an “eco-conscious Music Box.”

A press release explains this in more detail: “This innovative offering will contain extra visual content, handwritten notes, exclusive photos, and a download card. The card will give purchasers a high-quality download of the music, two exclusive bonus tracks, and access to some special surprises along the way.”

Lorde adds: “I decided early on in the process of making this album that I also wanted to create an environmentally kind, forward-thinking alternative to the CD. I wanted this Music Box product to be similar in size, shape and price to a CD, to live alongside it in a retail environment, but be something which stands apart and that’s committed to the evolving nature of a modern album.”

Jack Antonoff produced Solar Power, which is Lorde’s third album and the follow-up to 2017’s Melodrama (also produced by Antonoff).

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