Ahead of the release of Solar Power this Friday, our current cover star Lorde is back with a new single from the upcoming album, 'Mood Ring', alongside a stunning accompanying music video.

"This is a song I am very excited about, it’s so much fun to me," Lorde revealed in a statement. "Obviously when making this album I did a deep-dive into ’60s, Flower Child culture. I wanted to understand the commune life, dropping out from society and trying to start again. That really resonated to me when writing this album.

"One thing that occurred to me as a major parallel between that time and our time is our wellness culture and our culture of spirituality, pseudo-spirituality, wellness, pseudo-wellness," she continued. "Things like eating a macro-biotic vegan diet or burning sage, keeping crystals, reading tarot cards or your horoscope. These were all things that they were dabbling in back then, and that me and my girlfriends are dabbling in today. I was like 'I think there’s a pop song in here.' So this is kind of my extremely satirical look at all of those vibes."

In addition to the Flower Power era inspiration, 'Mood Ring' features clear nods to '90s/early '00s pop – packing as much nostalgia as the title implies. The lyrics take the form of satirical musings on feeling adrift at a time when the search for meaning is being increasingly commercialised, with meditation apps, burning sage, crystals and horoscopes all becoming online trends.

Take a look at the video, directed by Lorde and Joel Kefali, below.

Solar Power is out this Friday, August 20. As she gears up to release the hotly anticipated new album, Lorde spoke to Hot Press's Paul Nolan live from New York, where – fresh from performing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – she discussed life during the pandemic, Bobby Gillespie, Radiohead, fame, politics, the differences between Gen X and millennials, and more.

Pick up your copy of the current issue of Hot Press, featuring cover star Lorde, in shops now, or order online below: