Lorde - “Yellow Flicker Beat” (Official Video)

Last year, Lorde came out of middle-of-nowhere New Zealand and scored a #1 American hit. This year, she’s sold more albums than almost anyone else. She’s become a bona fide pop star without sacrificing any of her art-kid weirdness, and she’s curated the indie-heavy soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, which seems certain to be one of the year’s biggest movies. Today, she turns 18. I had barely figured out how to spell my own name by the time I turned 18. It’s pretty impressive. This being her birthday, Lorde has chosen today to drop the video for “Yellow Flicker Beat,” her Hunger Games single. The clip is a full-on showcase for Lorde’s freaky witch-marionette rap-hands dancing. The great Emily Kai Bock directed it, bringing some of the same ominous Lynchian darkness that she’s brought to her Grimes collabs.