Lorde has warned fans that they shouldn’t expect a song as groundbreaking as her best selling hit Royals as she fells she will never write anything better.
The 24-year-old Kiwi shot to fame back in 2013 when she unleashed her debut single into the world – with the R&B infused pop tune reaching the top of the charts in the UK, USA and her native New Zealand.
Lorde – whose real name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor – has failed to crack the top 10 singles in the UK since, and it has been four long years since the release of her second album, Melodrama, which hit number 5 in 2017.
But now the singer is gearing up to release her third record, titled Solar Power, but she has hinted a smash hit akin to Royals is out of reach.
Asked if she anticipates replicating the 2013 success that she had with Royals, Lorde told the New York Times: "What a lost cause.
"Can you imagine? I'm under no illusion. That was a moonshot."
The star went on to explain that she gave herself a digital detox while writing her new album after nothing she was racking up 11 hours of screen time per day looking at laptops or phones.
She said she has locked herself out of her social media apps, banned herself from watching YouTube, set her phone to grayscale, and even cut herself off from the internet.
She said: “I went back to living my life. It's hard for people to understand that.
"The question I've gotten a lot recently is, 'What have you been doing?'
"I'm like, 'Oh, no, no, no — this is a break from my life.' I come back and perform these duties because I believe in the album."
Last month, Lorde explained she experienced ‘culture shock’ when returning to the promotional trail ahead of her upcoming new album being released.
She wrote in a newsletter to fans: “It’s always a pretty wild adjustment back into American life for me, particularly due to the zones I move in. I had true culture shock.
“I felt like a freak, you know? Like a fancy little goldfish in her own special bowl."
With her last album being released four years ago, the star from Down Under says she has struggled to readjust to the life of a ‘pop star’ after time out of the limelight.
She wrote: "I know you know this, but pop star world is ridiculous and extravagant and excessive and very looks-focused.
“I’m reminded of the deep oddness when I’ve been away from it for a while.”
Meanwhile, she told Australian radio show Ash London Live: "I’m a shy and sensitive person. It has a lot of information, I realise how I was just pummelling myself with headlines and thoughts from other people all day and it did not give me much room to have ideas or brainstorm things. I am very grateful for that now.”
