Lorde Says Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ “Gave Me A Kick” While Making New Album, ‘Virgin’

In a new interview with BBC Radio 1, Lorde credits Charli XCX‘s recent album, Brat, for inspiring her to elevate her own creativity on her upcoming record, Virgin, which is due out on June 27. “Brat coming out really gave me a kick in a lot of ways,” Lorde admitted. “It forced me to further define what I was doing, because Charli had so masterfully defined everything about Brat, and I knew that what I was doing was very distinct to that. It’s an amazing thing when a peer throws the gauntlet down like that, you’re like, ‘OK, I’ve got to pick it up.’” Lorde also acknowledged the impact the duo’s collaboration on the remix of “Girl, So Confusing” had on her approach to her unguarded new material. “Doing the remix together and meeting her in that place of rugged vulnerability and kind of cracking open the thing …,” she added. “[When] people responded really well to that, I was like, ‘OK, cool, this is a good thing to be doing.’” (Billboard)