\n<\/p>\n
\n\tLorde<\/a> is an independent artist. In a voice message to fans, the artist revealed that she decided not to renew her contract with Universal Music Group following the conclusion of the recording deal she entered into at the age of 12. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI have been in that contract for a very, very long time, in some form of that contract since I was 12 years old, when I signed my first development deal with Universal,\u201d Lorde said. \u201cAnd I adore them. They\u2019re incredible people and I had an amazing experience with them. But the truth is that a 12 year old girl pre-sold her creative output before she knew what it would be like, and before she knew what she was signing away.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLorde released her debut studio album Pure Heroine <\/em>in September 2013, when she was 16 years old. The album positioned her as a new leader in pop, a literal ruler just as she asked on her breakout single \u201cRoyals.\u201d She returned in 2017 with another pivotal record, Melodrama. <\/em>This was followed by Solar Power <\/em>in 2021 and Virgin<\/a><\/em>, which arrived in June 2025 as her last album in this deal. <\/p>\n \n\tWhile she hasn\u2019t written off re-signing with another label, even one under UMG, in the future, Lorde is taking this moment to familiarize herself with the unfamiliar. \u201cI knew that I needed to take a second to have nothing being bought or sold that comes from me,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I see an opportunity for a clean slate, I try to take it. And it does feel different. It sounds like it wouldn\u2019t, but it really does. I feel a feeling of openness and possibility and I\u2019m inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLorde has a few festival shows coming up and the final set of dates on her Ultrasound World Tour scheduled for later this year. She\u2019s also learning to play chess, studying to get her driver\u2019s license (\u201cI must be a licensed driver before I turn 30. This is not up for discussion. Hold me to it.\u201d), and recently signed a lease on an office space to work out of.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt just feels exciting to have, I don\u2019t know, removed the container or something, for a second,\u201d Lorde said. \u201cSo, yeah, newness is kind of the theme, clean slate, openness, newness.\u201d She mentioned that this freedom has showed up in a few different ways, like on her phone background, which reads, \u201cI have no master.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m really trying to just feel what that feels like,\u201d she said. It also showed up on Virgin<\/em>, particularly on the song \u201cDavid,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n