Lorde has debuted her new single What Was That at a surprise pop-up concert in New York City — that eventually went ahead after initially being shut down by police.
The New Zealand singer posted a photo of Washington Square Park with the caption “tonight 7pm”.
Fans flooded the park an hour before she was supposed to appear, with photos shared of eager fans scaling trees to catch a glimpse of the singer.
Shortly before she was to perform, the Royals singer took to social media to tell fans police had shut the event down.
“Omg @thepark the cops are shutting us down,” the message read.
“I am truly amazed by how many of you showed !!!
“But they’re telling me you gotta disperse … I’m so sorry.”
However, the pop-up event ended up going ahead after all, with fans who stayed getting their first full airing of Lorde’s new single.
Lorde, real name Ella Yelich O’Connor, announced the single last week, sharing a headshot-style photo of her wearing a red shirt with a dripping wet face.
Presumed to be the single’s cover art, it was taken by New York-based photographer Talia Chetrit.
Earlier this month, she dropped a 15-second snippet of the unreleased song.
In the video posted to TikTok on April 10, Lorde was seen wearing a white shirt and jeans while walking through New York City.
“Since I was 17, I gave you everything/Now we wake from a dream, well baby, what was that? What was that?” she sings over a synth beat.
It was the first sign of a follow up to Lorde’s previous album, 2021’s Solar Power. Her other albums were 2013’s Pure Heroine and 2017’s Melodrama.
Last year, she collaborated with British singer Charli XCX on a remix of Girl, so confusing — on a re-release of the Grammy award-winning Brat.
