Quirky & cool: Lorde’s Melodrama .

The Royals hitmaker sings about heartbreak and coming of age on her highly anticipated second album, Melodrama Compiled by LINDSAY DE FREITAS

COMING OF AGE “It’s a nod to the types of emotions you experience when you’re 19 or 20,” she says of her new album, Melodrama, adding that it reflects her transition from teenager to adult. “It’s amazing actually listening to this body of work and being like, ‘Wow, that’s that year of my life in all of its glory – all the gross moments, all the great moments.’ ”

A WAY WITH WORDS Growing up in Auckland, New Zealand, she had no ambitions of becoming a singer – she just wanted to write. “I guess my mom influenced my lyrical style by always buying me books,” says Lorde, born Ella Yelich-O’Connor. “She’d give me a mixture of kid and adult books too – there weren’t really any books I wasn’t allowed to read.” Her short-story writing eventually gave way to lyrics, Lorde (20) says. According to mom Sonja, a poet, her daughter’s knack for words came early. When she was just 14, the blue-eyed brunette proofread her mom’s 40 000-word thesis – and “did an incredible job”.

KIWI AT HEART

“I’m very thankful that I never feel like the smartest person in the room, or the coolest person in the room, or the funniest. When I’m there, I’m just there,” the singer says of her native New Zealand and her decision to spend most of her time there. “Most of my friends are people I knew before I was famous. People forget that I’ve done anything. They say, ‘Ella’s this weird old dowager with a nice house’.”

RED CARPET DORK She was discovered by a record company scout after winning a talent contest at the age of 12 and shot to superstardom at 16 with her hit song, Royals, and debut album, Pure Heroine. But despite her chart-topping success – and her favoured spot in pop icon Taylor Swift’s girl squad – Lorde’s not in it for the celebrity. “I’m a great believer in sticking to your strengths, and I don’t think anyone needs to see me looking like a dork trying to look cool on a red carpet. I don’t feel wonderful about myself when I do them,” she says. “I’m painfully shy, and I have horrific stage fright. It doesn’t come naturally to me at all.”

GREEN LIGHT The lyrics of her song Green Light, the first single off Melodrama, were her way of processing her feelings towards her ex-boyfriend, Kiwi photographer JAMES LOWE (27). “It was my first major heartbreak. And the song is really about those moments kind of immediately after your life changes and about all the silly little things that you gravitate towards,” she says. “After a break-up you go to these crazy places. I definitely did.”