Lorde admits smoking bong in new Solar Power music video and voting 'Yes' in cannabis referendum

To add to Lorde's big day of releases with her first music single since 2017, the 24-year-old Kiwi singer has revealed she voted yes in New Zealand's cannabis referendum, and still can't drive.

The five-time Grammy winner spoke to ZM's Bree & Clint this afternoon as her new single Solar Power hit the airwaves. It is the first new music from her since 2017's Melodrama.

Lorde smoking a 'chic' apple bong in her new Solar Power music video. Source: Youtube

One topic of discussion was the film clip for the new single, which is set on an anonymous Kiwi beach.

Amid lots of laughs, Lorde admitted she was smoking a bong of sorts in the music video - a fennel bulb.

"Yes I am. I took your standard apple bong and made it a bit more chic, a bit more me," she said.

"I'm sure if you hit it for long enough the fennel would begin to roast."

This then led into a query about last year's unsuccessful New Zealand referendum to legalise cannabis.

The singer thought which way she voted should be obvious.

"Oh my god, are you kidding? Everyone knows it's a yes."

Lorde has released a new single titled Solar Power. Source: YouTube

Bree & Clint then grilled Lorde on her attempts to get her driver's licence, which were underway at the time her last album Melodrama dropped in 2017.

"I didn't get it [driver's licence]. I didn't get it guys. I didn't fail it, I just haven't taken it. It's very naughty. Every year it's my new year's resolution and every year it gets pushed out another year. It's only because I'm busy. I'm so busy.

"Everyone can drive, except for me.

"I'm pretty good, I can drive. I just don't practise that much. I think it's just knowing who goes at intersections. Is it me? Is it them? I am pretty good."

The return of Lorde: The singer has released new single Solar Power. Photo / Supplied video grab from YouTube-released video

But one thing Lorde didn't want to reveal was the location of the picturesque beach on which Solar Power was filmed.

"I don't want to disclose the location because it's just so beautiful I don't want everyone to go there and mess it up," she said.

"You know everyone has that beach in New Zealand that's just their secret spot, they just love to go to every summer. I am a fisherman and it's in me not to reveal the spot."

The song Solar Power has already shot beyond a million views on YouTube on its release day.

Lorde's Solar Power album cover. Photo / lorde.co.nz

Lorde said despite some people believing the theme of the song to have an intentional post-Covid summertime message, it was actually written years ago.

"A lot of people have been like, 'is this a pandemic-related pop song?' And I've been like, 'No, we actually wrote it like two years ago but it feels so right for this moment weirdly."

The Kiwi star, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor, delighted fans earlier this week when she released the artwork for her new single. The song is the title track from her third album which doesn't yet have a release date.

The revealing artwork showed the 24-year-old baring her backside, and it quickly went viral online.

Speaking to Triple J Breakfast, Lorde said about the cheeky photo: "It is funny, I keep thinking, 'Oh, this person that I know has seen my butt'."

You can listen to Lorde's new song below.