Lorde Says Trying to Have a Song as Big as 'Royals' Would Be a 'Lost Cause': 'I'm Under No Illusion'

For Lorde, creating new music is not about topping her previous work's commercial success.

In an interview with The New York Times, the 24-year-old pop star said she doesn't anticipate replicating the success she saw with her 2013 mega-hit "Royals."

"What a lost cause," she said. "Can you imagine? I'm under no illusion. That was a moonshot."

Lorde is set to drop her third studio album Solar Power on Aug. 20. It's been more than four years after the release of her sophomore project called Melodrama in June 2017.

Lorde said she spent the last few years getting rid of her addiction to the internet, noting she would rack up 11 hours of screentime beforehand. It was at that moment she realized it was up to her to make the necessary changes.

According to the Times, Lorde has set her phone to grayscale, has no internet browser and is locked out of her social media apps. She's also unable to access YouTube on her laptop.

"I went back to living my life," she told the Times of her recent hiatus, citing her "massive" introversion. "It's hard for people to understand that."

"The question I've gotten a lot recently is, 'What have you been doing?'" she continued. "I'm like, 'Oh, no, no, no — this is a break from my life.' I come back and perform these duties because I believe in the album."

Despite a busy schedule ahead of Solar Power's release, Lorde has still managed to make time for herself. The "Stoned at the Nail Salon" singer even planned herself a week-long beach trip with friends as she continues to promote her upcoming album.

Jack Antonoff, who helped write and produce Melodrama, assisted in creating Solar Power. However, Lorde said she does not want her work to be lumped in with that of other female musicians the 37-year-old producer has previously worked with, such as Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift and Clairo.

"I haven't made a Jack Antonoff record," Lorde told the Times. "I've made a Lorde record and he's helped me make it and very much deferred to me on production and arrangement. Jack would agree with this. To give him that amount of credit is frankly insulting."

Lorde also addressed speculation regarding the pair's potential romantic and sexual life, a narrative she deems "retro" and "sexist."

"No one who's in a job that isn't my job has a relationship like the one I have with Jack," she said of their unique partnership.

"We're in a relationship. It's not a romantic relationship, but we've been in it for seven years," she continued, "and it's a really unique thing, so I don't begrudge people maybe not being able to understand it."

Now, Lorde is much more at ease with her public perception than ever before. "I felt like I could just chill out and flex a little bit," Lorde said.

In fact, she said she would "almost value" listeners not understanding the album at first.

"I think I'm still giving something that's really digestible, but it's my pleasure to confound," Lorde. "I'm down to be that for people."