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Lorde is back with ‘Green Light’ — and heartbreak never sounded this great

Lorde, performing at Coachella in 2016, has released a new song from her forthcoming album.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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After a week of teasing, Lorde is officially back. On Thursday, the “Royals” singer debuted her single “Green Light,” along with its accompanying music video.

The comeback single, which she co-wrote and co-produced with Jack Antonoff, sees Lorde in heartbreak mode — but not down and out over losing her lover.

Instead, the 20-year-old is joyously moving on from the drama and dancing away her heartache.

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“But I hear sounds in my mind / Brand-new sounds in my mind… But honey, I’ll be seein’ you / Down every road,” she sings on the uptempo stomper.

“Green Light” is the first taste of her forthcoming sophomore album, “Melodrama,” the follow-up to her breakout debut, 2013’s “Pure Heroine.” Lorde and Antonoff produced the entire new record together.

During an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio, the singer said the song was about her first major heartbreak.

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“It’s not something that I really am used to writing about,” she said. “It took me a while to be able to figure out how to write about that … And the song is really about those moments kind of immediately after your life changes and about all the silly little things that you gravitate toward.”

Lorde said the last year of transitioning into adulthood had inspired the forthcoming record, which is planned for a summer release.

“I moved out of home and all of a sudden I was kind of figuring out ‘Who am I when I’m alone? Who am I when I’m doing things just for myself?’ And I feel like you can really hear that on this record,” she said. “There’s definitely moments where it’s like, ‘Oh, she really went there.’ ”

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Lorde will showcase some of the new material during her gig at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, slated for April 14-16 and April 21-23 in Indio.

Watch the video to “Green Light” below.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour »

gerrick.kennedy@latimes.com

For more music news follow me on Twitter:@GerrickKennedy

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