Four years after breaking out with 2013's Pure Heroine, Lorde returned on Thursday with "Green Light," a grand, sing-your-heart-out breakup anthem that marks he first taste of her forthcoming sophomore album, Melodrama. The song is triumphant, addictive, and instantly danceable, but it also might be a subtle homage to another treasured pop star: Robyn.
Following the track's release, astute social media users began drawing comparisons to Robyn's "Dancing On My Own," a soaring, disco-inspired tune from her 2010 record Body Talk Pt. 1. In its accompanying video, Robyn hits the club for some shadowy, late-night dancing — something Lorde also does in the "Green Light" music video, though she flaunts her moves in the bathroom, outside in the street, and on top of a car, too. Both songs address heartache, fall under the umbrella of dance pop, and include similar '80s synths. Plus, Lorde is a well-documented Robyn fan. The 20-year-old covered "Hang With Me" — also from Body Talk Part 1 — as recently as December. And in 2015, she wrote on Tumblr that she'd taken direct inspiration from "Dancing On My Own" while working on her upcoming album.
Lorde had been in the studio with friends discussing songs they wished were immortal, and Robyn immediately came to mind. She wrote,
"[T]his song, to me, is perfect. It's happy and sad, fiery and independent but vulnerable and small, joyous even when a heart is breaking. every line is perfect, how that second verse ('stilettos and broken bottles / i'm spinning around in circles') stumbles perfectly into that bridge ('the lights go on, the music dies / …i just came to say goodbye'), and final chorus. it's just perfect. we put it on right there in the studio, and i was up out of my seat dancing with my eyes screwed shut, and my hands up around my ears, and we looked into each other's eyes and sang the words, and i could feel something hot and teary in the back of my throat just from FEELING so much at once. and i think it was then when i realized i'm going to be in love with music for the rest of my life."
As a refresher, here's Robyn's video:
"Green Light" marks a new direction for Lorde, especially when it comes to writing about her personal life. But as far as comebacks go, being likened to Robyn isn't a bad place to start.
