Lorde's Cryptic Ad Might Tease New Music

Once upon a time, there was a musician from New Zealand. She was prodigy-young and charismatic, and she put out a great album. Her faithful fans waited, but no more music came out. Then there was a commercial, and they asked themselves: does Lorde's new ad mean new music is coming? This question was chanted, over and over. For it had been four long years since Pure Heroine, and the villagers were growing impatient. When would their princess finally give them the one thing they wanted, a solid second album?

Like all of the rest of you, I'm rooting for a happy ending to this fairytale. The fact that our lovely protagonist dropped an ad on the exact same night as the Oscars, and it was fairly atmospheric but difficult to decode, is giving me serious Lemonade vibes in terms of its unconventional marketing. And if we take any lesson from the last year in music — from Beyoncé dropping an astonishing visual album just like that to Rihanna releasing Anti for temporary free download following its leak to Frank Ocean releasing two albums in one weekend — difficult to understand marketing means new music. These are just the times we're living in. Roll with it.

OK, but let's delve a little deeper. What is she doing on March 2? We already know she's playing Saturday Night Live on March 11. While I'd previously assumed she'd use her performance to debut new music on that date, this could imply otherwise. Perhaps we're getting, at the very least, a new track from Lorde on March 2, and, at the very most, a whole new album.

But that's just one theory and one that, admittedly, isn't the most convincing. Because why are there two dates in this video and why is one labelled NYC and one NZ? More likely: she's releasing her new music at two secret live gigs that will only be announced in the run up to those dates. Because why else have those places listed? This would be a great way to give back to fans, especially if the gigs were free entry, but you could only get tickets via some sort of social media competition. It also makes sense: New Zealand because she's from there and it's an important part of her identity, New York City because where else to launch an album than from the most exciting metropolis on the planet?

All the same, if this is the case, while yes, this does mean new music sooner than expected, it's also means that poor Lorde has to be in New York City on one day and New Zealand the next. According to Travelmath, that's over 18 hours in the air. Pop music: now with a side of really intense jetlag.