This week’s astrology forecast: new Lorde music on the horizon. Just three days before her highly anticipated third album release, the artist dropped a new single, “Mood Ring,” duly accompanied by a breezy music video.

The new track is a commentary on today’s pseudo-wellness and spirituality culture, with the singer playing a platinum blonde crystal-obsessed character who appears burning sage and performing ritual-like dances in a zen spa with her friends. 

“Ladies, begin your sun salutations / Pluto in Scorpio generation / Love and light / You can burn sage, and I’ll cleanse the crystals / We can get high, but only if the wind blows,” she sings. “I can’t feel a thing/ I keep looking at my mood ring / Tell me how I’m feeling.” 

The ethereal video, which was co-directed by Lorde and Joel Kefali, combines light green, beige, and earthy tones, channeling a mother-nature-connection vibe – a typical green mood ring is believed to represent the ideal humor of peace, calm, and relaxation. The singer performs barefoot in a pistachio Paris Georgia Twist Top paired up with the label’s Sateen Skirt. 

“Obviously when making this album I did a deep-dive into ‘60s, Flower Child culture. I wanted to understand the commune life, dropping out from society and trying to start again. That really resonated to me when writing this album,” Lorde said in a press release. 

“One thing that occurred to me as a major parallel between that time and our time is our wellness culture and our culture of spirituality, pseudo-spirituality, wellness, pseudo-wellness,” she continued. “Things like eating a macro-biotic vegan diet or burning sage, keeping crystals, reading tarot cards or your horoscope. “These were all things that they were dabbling in back then, and that me and my girlfriends are dabbling in today.”

LORDE LOOKED GORGEOUS IN THE MOOD RING MUSIC VIDEO pic.twitter.com/LckRjbZjQ7

— Ron? (@evermoretrack2) August 17, 2021

While the song and video are a light satire on the pseudo-holistic culture that has become popular among millennials, Lorde emphasized she also feels sympathy for her blonde character and everyone who might find comfort in those rituals. 

“It was never my intention to fully flame her, although I don’t let her off the hook,” she explained in a newsletter sent to her fans shortly after the video premiered. “We’re living through wild times, and it’s tough to begrudge anyone the methods they employ to feel sane, questionable though they may be.”

Although the video’s visuals favor green, Lorde said during a livestream before the video release that “Mood Ring” evokes a light lilac color to her. She also showcased a new sticker collection, which she said she plans on keeping with her to gift fans she eventually meets in public. 

“Mood Ring” is the penultimate song on the tracklist for Lorde’s third album, Solar Power, which comes out this Friday, August 20. The singer will perform over 40 shows as part of her World Tour in 2022, with already sold-out dates in the UK, New Zealand, Europe, and North America, including two sold-out gigs at New York’s City Music Hall. 

Watch the full video for “Mood Ring” below: