Lorde Heard Music On a New Level After Her Breakup

Lorde stays in the shadows on the cover of The NY Times Magazine, on stands April 16th.

Here’s what the 20-year-old singer had to share with the mag:

On not getting recognized in NYC restaurants: “I spent about four months here last year with my laptop out and my headphones on, listening to demos, looking at lists of what I needed to get done and writing songs. People must have thought I was an aspiring poet or something.”

On her appreciation for Katy Perry: “There’s this sadness about ["Teenage Dream"], where you feel young listening to it, but you feel impermanence at the same time. When I put that song on, I’m as moved as I am by anything by David Bowie, by Fleetwood Mac, by Neil Young. It lets you feel something you didn’t know you needed to feel…There’s something holy about it.”

On writing music after a breakup: “After your heart is broken, music enters you on a new level. You suddenly find yourself crying when [Alicia Keys'] ‘Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart’ comes on.”

For more from Lorde, visit NYTimes.com.