No Tweets. No Instagram posts. The 1996-born singer/songwriter Lorde quietly posted cover art on her website as the announcement of her new music “Solar Power.” Blue sky as the background, a slight glimpse of the beach, this aesthetic cover features a woman from the ground up, who has long, curly brown hair and wears a bright yellow long sleeve top with a thong. The caption reads, “ARRIVING IN 2021 … PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE.” This announcement is elusive: we don’t know if it’s an album or an EP. But no matter what, it’s exciting enough to know Lorde is returning.

Last month, Barcelona’s 2022 Primavera Music Festival announced Lorde as a headliner. Until then, the young talent was outside of public attention. Since the tour in 2018 for the album Melodrama, she has been taking an extensive break from releasing new songs, social media and any public spotlight. Keeping a low profile, Lorde updated her life status with subscribers via newsletters over the past few years. She shared her grief of losing her dog Pearl. She disclosed the collaboration with Jack Antonoff in Auckland and Los Angeles for the new album. She traveled to Antarctica and released a photo album Going South. 

Lorde’s 2013 album Pure Heroine brought her fame. The song “Royals,” sold 10 million units worldwide, received widespread global acclaim. In the US, it spent nine weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, making Lorde, at the age of 16, the youngest artist to earn a number 1 single since 1987. 

This year, Lorde will be back. Even without an exact release date, we know it’s worth waiting. Like she said, “PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE.”