Lorde Unleashes ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’ from ‘Hunger Games: Mockingjay’ Soundtrack
What a difference a year makes: on this week in 2013, Lorde leapt to No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart with her debut single “Royals,” and the New Zealand teenager has never looked back. Tapped as the curator of the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Lorde has shared the lead single from the upcoming set, her own song “Yellow Flicker Beat” — listen below:
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With lyrics that reference the rise of Hunger Games heroine Katniss Everdeen (“They used to shout my name, now they whisper it”) and a wiry drop in the hook that recalls the explosion at the heart of “Team,” “Yellow Flicker Beat” finds Lorde honing her art-pop sensibilities in the context of a blockbuster franchise. “It’s my first offering from what i hope will be a soundtrack you love,” Lorde wrote of “Yellow Flicker Beat” in a Tumblr post on Monday (Sept. 29). “It’s my attempt at getting inside her head, katniss’. i hope you like it.”
Inside Lorde’s ‘Hunger Games’ Recording Session
“Yellow Flicker Beat” will be available at all digital retailers on Tuesday. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -Part 1 will be in theaters on Nov. 21. Lorde contributed a cover of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” to last year’s Catching Fire soundtrack, which included tracks from Coldplay, Of Monsters and Men and Sia; the Mockingjay track list has yet to be revealed.
Lorde recently topped Billboard.com’s annual 21 Under 21 list — click here to find out why the singer-songwriter is music’s hottest young voice.
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