Lorde Rules the World in Moody New Video for ‘Team’

There is absolutely no denying that Lorde is the artist of the moment. And the hype surrounding today’s video release for her latest single, 'Team', is no different, with all the clicks causing Vevo to crash minutes after the clip was posted.

'Team', directed by LA director Young Replicant (The xx, M83), sees Lorde mostly sitting down — limiting her usually impressive dance moves. But she knows where she's going with it.

"This video was borne from a dream I had a few months ago about teenagers in their own world, a world with hierarchies and initiations, where the boy who was second in command had acne on his face, and so did the girl who was queen," she said on her Facebook page. "I dreamt about this world being so different to anything anyone had ever seen, a dark world full of tropical plants and ruins and sweat. And of this world, I dreamt about tests that didn't need to be passed in order to be allowed in: sometimes the person who loses is stronger."

The vid — plus several of Lorde's recent live performances, including a killer ARIA appearance in Sydney over the weekend — have come to prove that as she continues to gain ridiculous popularity, her style becomes more and more quirky. And we dig it — the 17-year-old, continuing to demonstrate the power of youth in her ironic music videos.

'Team' is the third single to be released from Pure Heroine. Lorde will return to Australia in February to perform at Laneway Festival.