Lorde talks feeling ‘isolated’ living away from home and friends in pandemic
Lorde says she is "feeling isolated from friends and loved ones" in New York ahead of her tour
By Jen Thomas
Lorde has shared how she is feeling “isolated from friends and loved ones” during the pandemic while she’s living in New York.
She revealed how she’s missing loved ones at home in New Zealand while she’s working away.
The singer released her third album, ‘Solar Power’ back in August.
Lorde opened up about her feelings of loneliness in a letter to fans on Tuesday, talking about an unexpectedly “tough” year.
“The pandemic has continued to make things difficult, lonely, or dangerous for absolutely everyone in varying degrees, but outside of that, 2021 has been tough in completely unexpected ways,” she wrote.
She revealed she is living in New York ahead of a huge 2022 tour.
“Being away from home at a time where the country’s struggling to contain the virus, feeling isolated from friends and loved ones there. Looking out at the country I’m in and feeling estranged from so much of what I see, and knowing it feels as estranged from me,” she added.
Lorde announced several years ago that she would be stepping away from social media, but she shared that this overwhelming isolation throughout the pandemic has made her reconsider her choice.
She wrote: “The decision to step back from social media has been something I’ve really questioned through this time,” she wrote.
“I was so sure skipping the negatives (compulsive time-wasting, IV drip of dread, satisfying but hollow validation loop) would outweigh missing out on the positives (feeling like part of a community, hearing your sweet words, hitting you back). But I’ve really, really missed you.”
She said the pandemic has left her “questioning what I’m doing and why, all the time, on an unprecedented level.”
Lorde said that not being able to perform also added to her isolation: “Normally I’d be doing festivals and shows already, pinging around the world and touching your faces so that probably contributes to the loneliness a little bit.”
Back in August she told James Corden about her social media decision: “I did it because I felt like my brain wasn’t working very well anymore. It was horribly difficult, the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
She continued: “It’s still horribly difficult every day. It would be like stopping eating sugar for me, like I still eat tons of sugar. And if I don’t have sugar, I feel insane.”
“And the first little while of not being on social media was totally like that. I was so crabby, I felt so disconnected. But it’s how my life is now.”
Lorde said she loves the New York Times cooking app now instead, specifically the comment section under the recipes: “That’s become a source of community for me.”
“You get all these weird little stories. ‘Someone’s like, ‘I make this for my husband when he gets home from work and he does this.’ Every once in a while you get some kind of detail. You’ll find something and you’ll make it into that.”