Lorde Shares New Enthralling ‘The Hunger Games’ Single

Lorde has shared "Yellow Flicker Beat," her alluring lead single from the singer's curated soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1. The dark jam fits comfortably within the 17-year-old's sonic wheelhouse, with Lorde's gloomy croon stretched out over minimal synths and lively drums. "I'm a princess cut from marble / smoother than a storm," she sings, in what sounds like a reference to Hunger Games heroine Katniss Everdeen. "And the scars that mark my body / they’re silver and gold."

Many components of “Yellow Flicker Beat” sound like the Lorde we know and love. She still has a fondness for the multi-tracked vocals, anthemic choruses, and meandering melodies that made “Royals” and “Tennis Court” huge hits. “Yellow Flicker Beat” is a banger and sounds tailor-made for a blockbuster, meaning most of it bears a resemblance to the universal epic fare designed to underline a major battle or accompany the ending credits.

"It's my attempt at getting inside her head, Katniss," she said, referring to the Hunger Games' protagonist character, Katniss Everdeen. "I hope you like it."

The lyrics, paired with the dusky and lilting tone of the song, show off Lorde's skill at crafting a character that combines Katniss Everdeen's strength with her own gothic undertones, its cut in the same forebodingly, dark grooving vein as her LP ‘Pure Heroine’.

Lorde's growth as an artist is apparent in this song. She draws out the drops in the song for maximum power and influence, and the song really is, as she sings, "smoother than the storm." It has the momentum of Katniss Everdeen, and it flaunts a pop star that is coming into her own.