To the delight of fans the world over, Lorde made her return today with the new single “Solar Power.” To some listeners, the song sounded a bit familiar, and now Lorde has confirmed that her single is indeed inspired by a song from a beloved band.
The song in question is Primal Scream’s “Loaded.” For those not familiar, Primal Scream is a Scottish band that formed in the 80s and had their biggest success with the 1991 album Screamadelica (on which “Loaded” appears), which has gone on to be recognized as one of the decade’s finest releases.
Lorde spoke about it with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, saying:
“I had never heard Primal Scream in my life. I’d been told to check them out. I wrote this song on the piano and then we realized, like, this sounds a lot like ‘Loaded.’ It’s one of those crazy things that, like, they just were the spiritual forebears of the song. I reached out to [Primal Scream singer] Bobby [Gillespie] and he was so lovely about it. He was like, ‘You know, these things happen. You caught a vibe that we caught years ago.’ And he gave us his blessing. So let the record state ‘Loaded’ is 100 percent the original blueprint for this, but we arrived at it organically and I’m glad we did.”
“Solar Power” actually isn’t the only new Lorde song of the day, by the way, as she guested on Clairo’s latest, “Blouse.”
Listen to both Lorde’s “Solar Power” and Primal Scream’s “Loaded” below.