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Lorde Announces Summer Release for ‘Solar Power’ Album, Tour Dates for Next Spring

The dog days of summer will come with a silver lining for Lorde fans — the release of her third album and first in four years, “Solar Power,” coming August 20.

The sun won’t be quite so high in the sky, meanwhile, when Lorde finally hits the road. She’ll be touring behind the album in the spring, with North American dates starting at Nashville’s Opry House on April 3, 2022 and wrapping up at the Santa Barbara Bowl May 7. Her L.A show will be May 5 at the Shrine. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. local time on Friday for the tour, which has New Zealand and Australian dates preceding the American gigs, and a trip through Europe following her U.S. dates.

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A 12-track song list was released for “Solar Power,” the title track of which came out to preview the album 11 days ago, timed to a solar eclipse. Some of the song titles, like the closing “Oceanic Feeling,” confirm that the singer is in a very summery and not-so-black-clad mode on her first album since 2017’s “Melodrama,” with producer Jack Antonoff back on board for the follow-up.

“The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors,” Lorde said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through. … The first song (‘Solar Power’) is the first of the rays. It’s about that infectious, flirtatious summer energy that takes hold of us all, come June.”

If you had intentions of buying it on CD, you’re out of luck. The announcement says that Lorde, “to honor the natural world,” will release it in “a first-of-its kind, discless format. An eco-conscious Music Box will be available for purchase as an alternative to a CD” for retail, with extra printed content and a high-quality download that will include two exclusive bonus tracks. Said Lorde, “I decided early on in the process of making this album that I also wanted to create an environmentally kind, forward-thinking alternative to the CD. I wanted this Music Box product to be similar in size, shape and price to a CD, to live alongside it in a retail environment, but be something which stands apart and that’s committed to the evolving nature of a modern album.”

However, Lorde is not going altogether disc-less in the “Solar Power” rollout. Although vinyl was not mentioned as part of the announcement, her webstore shows three different LP versions of the album on sale (the most deluxe of which sold out within minutes of the album announcement).

The album track list:

1. The Path
2. Solar Power
3. California
4. Stoned in the Nail Salon
5. Fallen Fruit
6. Secrets From a Girl (Who’s Seen It All)
7. The Man with An Axe
8. Dominoes
9. Big Star
10. Leader of a New Regime
11. Mood Ring
12. Oceanic Feeling

Lorde’s tour dates:

February 26

Christchurch, NZ

Electric Avenue Festival

February 27

Upper Moutere, NZ

Neudorf Vineyards

March 1

Wellington, NZ

Days Bay

March 2

Havelock North, NZ

Black Barn Vineyards

March 4

New Plymouth, NZ

Bowl of Brooklands

March 5

Auckland, NZ

Outerfields

March 10

Brisbane, AU

Riverstage

March 12

Melbourne, AU

SMMB

March 15

Sydney, AU

Aware Super Theatre

March 19

Perth, AU

Belvoir Amphitheater

April 3

Nashville, TN

Opry House

April 5

Detroit, MI

Masonic Temple Theatre

April 7

Montreal, QC

Salle Willfrid Pelletier

April 8

Toronto, ON

Meridian Hall

April 12

Boston, MA

Boch Center – Wang Theatre

April 15

Uncasville, CT

Mohegan Sun Arena

April 16

Washington, DC

The Anthem

April 18

New York, NY

Radio City Music Hall

April 20

Philadelphia, PA

The Met

April 22

Chicago, IL

The Chicago Theatre

April 25

Minneapolis, MN

The Armory

April 27

Denver, CO

Mission Ballroom

April 30

Seattle, WA

WaMu Theatre

May 1

Portland, OR

Theater of the Clouds

May 3

San Francisco, CA

Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

May 5

Los Angeles, CA

Shrine Auditorium

May 7

Santa Barbara, CA

Santa Barbara Bowl

May 25

Leeds, UK

O2 Academy

May 26

Edinburgh, UK

Usher Hall

May 28

Manchester, UK

O2 Victoria Warehouse

May 30

Birmingham, UK

O2 Academy

June 1

London, UK

Roundhouse

June 2

London, UK

Roundhouse

June 7

Paris, FR

Casino de Paris

June 8

Amsterdam, NL

AFAS Live

June 10

Barcelona, ES

Primavera Sound

June 13

Zurich, CH

Halle 622

June 14

Munich, DE

Zenith

June 16

Rome, IT

Cavea – Auditorium Parco della Musica

June 17

Villafranca di Verona, IT

Castello di Villafranca

June 18

Sibenik, HR

Saint Mihovil Fortress

June 21

Cologne, DE

Open Air am Tanzbrunnen

June 23

Berlin, DE

Verti Music Hall

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