David Emery Online

What Was That by Lorde

5 May 2025

It would be unfair to say — like many others already have — that ‘What Was That’, the new single by Lorde from her upcoming fourth album ‘Virgin’, is a return to form. That would perpetuate the prevalent narrative that 2021’s ‘Solar Power’ was a dud. The internet has decided so, therefore it is so.

Which is tiresome, isn’t it?

Not only am I a ‘Solar Power’ apologist (both record and power source), but it speaks to the exhausting nature of online music criticism. Which has, for the most part, shifted from the professional to the amateur, with a million comment sections, every social post allowing for a snipe, gripe, and reinforcement of the aggregate cultural opinion. ‘Solar Power’ is a good record, a subtle record, that for me fits a slightly different space than a lot of Lorde’s other work. I suspect that, in a decade or so’s time, it will get a reevaluation once there’s a better perspective on her breadth of catalogue.

None of this is to say that ‘What Was That’ isn’t a banger, though, because it is. But interestingly, it still carries through some of the previous records’ lightness of touch, like how the chorus never quite lives up to the build-up, replacing the drop you think you might be getting with a squelchy synth line. Subtlety doesn’t often carry well in the ‘discourse’, but for me Lorde is wielding it on this track with great power (no pun intended).