Lorde Debuts New Song “What Was That” Live at Washington Square Park

Lorde debuted her forthcoming new single, “What Was That,” on Tuesday evening, April 22, at New York’s Washington Square Park. The singer stood on a wooden platform at the center of the park’s now-dormant fountain and sang along to the track as it played from a minimal speaker stack, according to footage shared online. Watch a clip on X.

Earlier today, Lorde teased the pop-up appearance with a message shared via her fan text line: “Meet me in the park Tonight 7pm -xx.” When 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time rolled around, she followed up with a post to her Instagram story, informing attendees that the event had been shut down by park rangers and local police. “I am truly Amazed by how many of you showed up !!!” it read, in part. “But they’re telling me you gotta disperse … I’m so sorry.”

Much of the crowd stuck around for the next hour, however, until Blood Orange’s Devonté Hynes—who is speculated to have worked on Lorde’s next album—arrived with a rolling speaker blasting “What Was That” and led them out of the park. Lorde finally showed up after 9 p.m., pausing to thank the assembled fans before launching into her song. Newly revealed lyrics include the following: “I’m missing you/And all the things we used to do/MDMA in the back garden, blow our pupils up/We kissed for hours straight but baby, what was that?/I remember saying then/This is the best cigarette of my life/Well I want you just like that.”

Lorde first teased “What Was That” via a snippet posted to TikTok, accompanied by a video of her strutting around Washington Square Park. She recently made an appearance at Charli XCX’s weekend one Coachella set and collaborated with New Zealand singer-songwriter Marlon Williams. Her latest studio album to date is 2021’s Solar Power.

Read about Charli XCX and Lorde’s “Girl, So Confusing Featuring Lorde” at No. 9 in “The 100 Best Songs of 2024.”