Lorde made a rare public appearance with American musician Jim-E Stack in New York on Saturday.
The New Zealand singer, 27, appeared close to the producer, who is rumored to be helping her with her new album, as they took a stroll around the city.
Lorde, who has not been pictured with her music director boyfriend Justin Warren since March 2023, dressed casually for the outing in a long black skirt, red T-shirt and green jacket.
The singer completed her look with a pair of black boots and was seen sitting on a park bench chatting with Jim-E.
The songwriter wore blue jeans and a white T-shirt as he walked next to Lorde.
The pair recently sparked rumors that they are working on a new album together after Jim-E shared a photo of Lorde on Instagram in August.
The image showed the singer sitting in a studio and working on her laptop.
It came weeks after Lorde completely deleted her social media accounts, leading fans to speculate that a new album was on the way.
Lorde made a rare public appearance with American musician Jim-E Stack in New York on Saturday
In June, she also uploaded a series of enigmatic photos that appeared to tease new music.
One photo showed her in a long black dress, gazing over a balcony, while another captured the moment she spat over the edge.
To add to the intrigue, she shared a close-up of her hand holding a tablet with the word ‘spit’ written on it.
She wrote a short message saying, “Use existing tools wherever possible. If the tools don’t exist, you are spiritually obligated to create them.”
The New Zealand singer appeared close with the producer, who was reportedly helping her with her new album, as they took a stroll around the city.
Fans were quick to speculate that her post could be a teaser for new music on the horizon.
‘So the first single is called spit?’ one person wondered.
“LORDE WHAT IS THIS please release an album,” another excited fan wrote while a third person commented: “Lorde’s new album coming soon!”
The post was the only one on Lorde’s Instagram page at the time.
The Grammy Award-winning songwriter debuted two new songs during her set at England’s Boardmasters Festival last year.
According to Vulture, the hitmaker performed a pair of songs titled Silver Moon and Invisible Ink, although she later denied these were the final names.
Lorde dressed casually for the outing in a long black skirt and red T-shirt
Although many fans suspected that Lorde was planning to release a new album, she took to her Instagram account at the time to reveal that she did not have a major project in the works.
She wrote, “This isn’t the start of anything out there, I just want you to know there’s a light burning inside me.”
When another fan commented that the hitmaker was trying to mislead her fanbase, she doubled down on her original denial.
“I really mean it, I just decided to get these off my laptop… but they’re not bad, are they,” she wrote.
Lorde’s most recently released album Solar Power debuted in August 2021.
Lorde has not been pictured with her music director boyfriend Justin Warren (left) since March 2023. Both pictured in 2021
Meanwhile, Lorde hinted at relationship problems with her long-term boyfriend Justin, 43, last year when she shared a disturbing open letter with her fans, revealing she is suffering from a personal ‘heartbreak’.
They were first photographed together on the beach in 2016, but at the time Justin dismissed rumors that they were dating.
But in the years since, they’ve traveled the world together and Justin was even spotted near the singer’s $2.8 million mansion.