Lorde has released a music video for one of Solar Power’s shortest yet most poignant tracks, “Leader of a New Regime.”
The song is a scathing critique of climate change deniers, as Lorde imagines herself one of them, happy to live out her days without a care in the world. She sings, “Wearing SPF 3000 for the ultraviolet rays/ Made it to the island on the last of the outbound planes/ Got a trunk full of Simone and Céline, and of course, my magazines/ I’m gonna live out my days.”
The accompanying visual finds Lorde exploring a deserted island via horseback, occasionally encountering the massive mirrors that have been a signature part of the Solar Power campaign.
Last month, Lorde released a deluxe version of Solar Power, featuring two new songs. “Hold No Grudge” and “Helen Of Troy” were previously only available on exclusive physical versions of the album, but are now on streaming services for the first time.
The New Zealander announced their wide release in an email newsletter to fans, in which she described them as the “black sheep” of Solar Power. “These songs were fun explorations on the album journey,” she wrote. “They didn’t quite fit into the tracklist for whatever reason but they’re both big tunes.”
Of the guitar-led “Helen Of Troy,” Lorde explained the song had started life as her “talking trash to make Jack [Antonoff, Solar Power producer] laugh.” “It’s super off the cuff lyrically, almost ad-libbed, and you can hear me starting to figure out some album themes — ‘So I took a happy face, and it’s coming on like a charm/I don’t wanna get lost, I wanna worship the sun/And if you want, you can come,’” she added.
The deluxe version of Solar Power follows Lorde sharing a new video for “Fallen Fruit”, which saw her returning to the same beach seen in the music video for the album’s title track. This time, though, the idyllic haven flickers between paradise and destruction as the pop star slowly and sombrely walks across the sand.
