NEW YORK, NY (June 16, 2017) – Today, GRAMMY® Award-winning multiplatinum chart-dominating artist LORDE releases her highly anticipated sophomore album, Melodrama via LAVA/Republic Records. To celebrate the release, LORDE has announced her 2018 North American tour dates promoted by AEG Presents, on sale Friday, June 23, 2017 at 10am local. Fans can sign up for Lorde’s email list for first access to pre-sale tickets and find more info on tour dates here: https://lorde.co.nz/melodrama-tour

Melodrama is available now across all digital service providers.

In just nine hours since its midnight release, Melodrama has already garnered widespread critical acclaim, with USA Today crowning it, "the best pop release of 2017 thus far, cementing the singer’s status as one of her generation’s most essential stars.”  Variety insists Melodrama is, “the great weird-pop album 2017 has been waiting for,” while The New Yorker likens the release to the work of Elton John, Freddie Mercury, and Kate Bush, and Entertainment Weekly succinctly declares it, “holy.”  Pitchfork describes Melodrama as, “a masterful study of being a young woman…crafted with the utmost care and wisdom,” before concluding, “It’s not enough to say Lorde is one in a generation.”

Ahead of the release, LORDE gave fans a preview of her second studio album, dropping four songs off Melodrama beginning with the release of lead single “Green Light” in March and follow-up tracks “Liability,” “Sober,” and current single “Perfect Places.”  “Green Light” immediately launched the singer to the top worldwide trending topic on Facebook and Twitter, amassing an incredible 2 billion impressions on Twitter alone within its first 24 hours. Rolling Stone praised her return single as, “a reflection of her own emerging adulthood” and The FADER declared the track, “a true pop anthem – made for both earbud strutting and the club”. Pitchfork naming “Green Light” and “Perfect Places” best new tracks. Billboard praised “Liability” as “an absolute jaw-dropper.” SPIN calling her latest release “Sober,” “the strangest, coolest Melodrama song yet,” with Pitchfork declaring the track, “intoxicating.”

In addition to the previously announced tour dates across Europe – featuring support from Khalid – and in Australia and New Zealand, LORDE announces her 2018 North American tour dates, with support to be announced. The singer’s North American dates are set for March 2018, kicking off in Milwaukee before heading to 30 dates and concluding in Nashville, TN.

Lorde has been heating up festival stages all season with acclaimed performances at Coachella, Governors Ball and most recently, Bonnaroo. Garnering praise from fans and critics alike with UPROXX noting that “her voice was impeccable, and she brimmed with confidence as she strutted across the stage” and Billboard concluding that “Lorde can deliver…”  She continues to headline marquee festivals across the globe this year including anticipated performances at Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Life Is Beautiful, and more.

LISTEN HERE

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:

International tour dates can be found at https://lorde.co.nz/.

ABOUT LORDE: In 2013, a 16-year-old LORDE quietly, yet confidently asserted herself as the voice of a generation with her full-length debut, Pure Heroine. The album would go triple-platinum, win two GRAMMY® Awards, and spawn the seven-times platinum record-breaking international juggernaut single, “Royals,” and quadruple-platinum follow up “Team.” The former cemented LORDE as “the youngest solo artist and the only New Zealander to achieve #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1987.” Time exalted her amongst the “Most Influential Teenagers in the World,” she landed on Forbes’s “30 Under 30” List, graced the cover of Rolling Stone and performed alongside Nirvana during the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. She also curated the official soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and recorded “Yellow Flicker Beat” as the lead single. This year LORDE makes her anxiously awaited return with the new single “Green Light,” from her second full-length album due this summer, marking the first taste of new music that will set the tone for her highly anticipated performances at marquee festivals including Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Life Is Beautiful, and more.

ABOUT REPUBLIC RECORDS: A division of Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company, Republic is home to an all-star roster of multi-platinum, award-winning legends and superstar artists such as Aminé, Ariana Grande, Black Sabbath, DNCE, Florence + the Machine, Godsmack, Gotye, Hailee Steinfeld, James Blake, James Bay, John Mellencamp, Julia Michaels, Keith Richards, Kid Cudi, Marian Hill, Of Monsters and Men, Post Malone, Seth MacFarlane, Stevie Wonder, and more. Founded by brothers and chief executives Monte and Avery Lipman, it is also comprised of innovative business ventures, including American Recordings (The Avett Brothers), Brushfire (Jack Johnson), Casablanca Records (Afrojack, Tïesto,), Cash Money (Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj), Hollywood Records (Sofia Carson, Zendaya), John Varvatos Records, Lava Records (Jessie J, Lorde), Monkeywrench (Pearl Jam), NBC's The Voice, XO (The Weeknd), Roc Nation (Belly, Justine Skye, The Dream, T.I.), among others. In addition, Republic maintains a long-standing strategic alliance with country powerhouse Big Machine Label Group, which is comprised of Big Machine Records (Taylor Swift), and Dot Records (Maddie + Tae). In addition, Republic has expanded to release high-profile soundtracks for Fifty Shades of Grey, The Hunger Games, Lee Daniel’s STAR, Pitch Perfect, SING, and The Voice (NBC TV), as well as other notable film and television franchises.